Enzyte Marketer Berkeley Settles Complaints For $2.5 Mil.
This article was originally published in The Tan Sheet
Executive Summary
Berkeley Premium Nutraceuticals will pay $2.5 mil. in legal costs and restitution in accordance with a consent agreement, the firm announced March 1
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Berkeley Premium Nutraceuticals will pay $2.5 mil. in legal costs and restitution in accordance with a consent agreement, the firm announced March 1. Berkeley and owner Steve Warshak entered into an agreement with six state Attorney Generals to resolve issues stemming from the company's "unsatisfactory" business practices. The firm markets and sells a number of supplements, including the sexual "enhancement" products Enzyte and Avlimil. Six states - Ohio, Arkansas, Illinois, North Carolina, Oregon and Texas - filed suit against the firm in June 2005 in response to thousands of consumer complaints about the company's billing and refund policies. Over 4,000 complaints against the company have been received in the past three years, the Cincinnati Better Business Bureau reports. Under the agreement, Berkeley must pay monetary settlements totaling $2.5 mil. Should the company fail to meet any of its obligations under the agreement, it may be liable for an additional $2.5 mil. in penalties, according to the firm. Berkeley acknowledges no wrongdoing; instead, the firm states that it has "begun to implement a series of measures to enhance the company's business practices, better inform consumers about its products and provide restitution to consumers with outstanding complaints." In March 2005, a number of federal agencies including the FBI, IRS and U.S. Postal Inspection Service seized records from the firm's Forest Park, Ohio headquarters due to its "unsatisfactory" history with the Better Business Bureau regarding billing issues (1 'The Tan Sheet' March 21, 2005, In Brief). Berkeley and Warshak are currently embroiled in a number of legal matters. In March 2004, consumers filed a class-action suit alleging "false claims" associated with Enzyte and Avlimil. The FTC filed a suit on Feb. 2 claiming deceptive advertising. Meanwhile, Warshak is involved in trying to regain $24 mil. in accounts frozen by a federal judge after the March raid, according to the Illinois Department of Public Health. - Melina Vissat |