Expensive non-compliance!

[Guest guest]

*For Release: *July 24, 2006

Marketers of Seasilver Ordered to Pay Almost $120 Million

*Defendants Failed to Pay Consumer Redress*

The marketers of Seasilver, an alleged phony cure-all, have been ordered to

pay almost $120 million for failing to comply with an earlier order

requiring them to pay $3 million in consumer redress.

In ads for Seasilver, the promoters claimed the product, a liquid dietary

supplement containing aloe vera, phyto-silver sea vegetables, herbs,

cranberry concentrate, and other ingredients, was clinically proven to treat

or cure 650 diseases, including cancer and AIDS, and caused rapid,

substantial, and permanent weight loss without dieting. The FTC alleged that

the claims were false and unsubstantiated.

In March 2004, the defendants agreed to settle the FTC's charges. The

settlement, filed in federal court, barred the defendants from making false

or misleading claims in the future. It also required the defendants to pay

$3 million in consumer redress and included a suspended judgment of $120

million, which would become due if the defendants misrepresented their

financial status, or did not make the payments as they agreed.

To date, Seasilver, USA, Inc. and Americaloe, Inc., and their owners, Bela

Berkes and Berkes, have paid less than $1 million of the consumer

redress they agreed to pay. Under the Court's order, entered on June 20,

2006, the Seasilver marketers are now jointly and severally liable to pay

the full amount of $119,237,000, plus interest. The FTC has secured liens on

the defendants' assets, including a nursery, an aloe farm, and equipment.

The two largest distributors of Seasilver, who were named in the FTC's

complaint and settled the charges, have made their separate court-ordered

payments of $1 million and $500,000.

The hotline number for this case, 1-, contains more information

for interested consumers.

*Copies* <http://www.ftc.gov/os/2006/07/index.htm#24> of the orders are

available from the FTC's Web site at http://www.ftc.gov and also from the

FTC's Consumer Response Center, Room 130, 600 Pennsylvania Avenue, N.W.,

Washington, D.C. 20580. The FTC works for the consumer to prevent

fraudulent, deceptive, and unfair business practices in the marketplace and

to provide information to help consumers spot, stop, and avoid them. To file

a complaint in English or Spanish (bilingual counselors are available to

take complaints), or to get free information on any of 150 consumer topics,

call toll-free, 1-877-FTC-HELP (1-), or use the complaint form

at http://www.ftc.gov/ftc/complaint.htm. The FTC enters Internet,

telemarketing, identity theft, and other fraud-related complaints into

Consumer Sentinel, a secure, online database available to thousands of civil

and criminal law enforcement agencies in the U.S. and abroad.

MEDIA CONTACT:

Dizdul,

*Office of Public Affairs*

STAFF CONTACT:

Matt Daynard,

*Bureau of Consumer Protection*

Jan Charter or Dave Newman,

*FTC's Western Region*

, or

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file:///C:/Documents%20and%20Settings/dougk/Local%20Settings/Temporary%20Interne\

t%20Files/OLKE9/seasilver.htm)

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Sincerely,

Kalman PhD©, RD

" When choosing between two evils, I always like to choose the one I've never

tried before. " Mae West.