Court Upholds Seasilver 120M Fine

  • SAN FRANCISCO?The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit upheld a prior district court ruling requiring the marketers of the Seasilver dietary supplement to pay almost $120 million for failing to comply with an earlier order to pay $3 million in consumer redress.

    This latest decision requires the defendants?Jason and Bela Berkes, Seasilver USA Inc. and Americaloe Inc.?to pay almost $120 million under a 2004 agreement with FTC, which barred them from making false or misleading claims and included a $120 million judgment that would be suspended if they paid $3 million within a specified time. The defendants did not meet the required payment terms, and a June 2006 district court granted FTC's request to enforce the stipulated avalanche judgment. However, the defendants appealed this 2006 decision.