Denialism

Sometimes there is justice for alties

—

by

MarkH
in

Yes, there is. This time for maker of an “all natural” penis enhancer Steve Warshak (and some family members as well) who was sentenced for 25 years!

Steve Warshak, 42, founder of Berkeley Premium Nutraceuticals, also was ordered to pay $93,000 in fines. He was convicted in February on 93 counts of conspiracy, fraud and money laundering.

Federal prosecutors accused the company of bilking customers out of $100 million through a series of deceptive ads, manipulated credit card transactions and refusal to accept returns or cancel orders.

U.S. District Judge S. Arthur Spiegel ordered the company, along with other defendants, to forfeit more than $500 million. He said it was impossible to calculate exactly how much money was lost by customers, so he accepted a figure based on how much Warshak and the company took in.

Berkeley distributes various products alleged to boost energy, manage weight, reduce memory loss and aid sleep. The company’s main product, Enzyte, which promises sexual enhancement, has ads featuring “Smiling Bob,” a happy man with an exaggerated smile.

“This is a case about greed,” Spiegel said as he reviewed the case. “Steven Warshak preyed on perceived sexual inadequacies of customers.”

With any luck I’ll never have to see another one of those goddamn ads again. But really, 500 million? It’s sad to think of how many people are (1) feel so inadequate they would feel the need to buy the product (2) be so foolish as to think that magic penis pills work, (3) think the ad featuring “Enzyte Bob” was anything but an outrageous scam. It is sad to see the power wishful thinking has over basic rationality, and sadder still that there is scum like Warshak who will exploit such feelings to steal money from people.

Thanks Ed

Comments

  1. Infophile

    Now this restores a little of my faith in humanity; thank you. It’s very refreshing to see a penalty for a scam like this that isn’t a simple slap on the wrist financially and includes jail time on top of that. Hopefully other such scammers will take heed.

    …Not that this will stop those who truly believe in the efficacy of their products, but it’s better than nothing.

    As for why so many people bought it, I suspect the promises of getting their money back if it didn’t work played into it. It gave them a “nothing to lose” mentality, not realizing that the company had no intention of following through on that promise. But then, when it actually didn’t work, a lot of people probably didn’t even try to get the refunds, as it would be like admitting they got scammed.

    What saddens me though is that if the makers of Enzyte hadn’t tried to deny refunds to the people who requested them, they might have gotten off a lot better in the courts, even though they knew they were peddling a scam. Ah well, you take what you can get sometimes.

    Reply
  2. Ren

    I guess the snake oil isn’t going to work either… Get it? “Snake” oil?

    I need a vacation.

    Reply
  3. Michael Paul Goldenberg

    I’m really glad to read that these guys got nailed, but I bet you the same fellow is back on the street with some other scam in short order.

    Reply
  4. I am so wise

    If you members of the all powerful medical community got off your duffs and granted the FDA the power to regulate supplements, things like this would not happen. Geez, you’re all powerful, don’t you read the conspiracy mags?

    Reply
  5. jim

    I find it hard to believe people could fall for this. It is a perfect example of why we shouldn’t have a completely free market for drugs and why giving up some sort of government control wouldn’t work. While it sounds great that people could have more choices if the government didn’t regulate drugs it then relys on everyone being a medical expert. (which won’t work) Not only that but how do you know that the purity of a drug is sufficient or even what it says it is. (Just think of the whole counterfeit drug thing, coloring pills with highway paint so they are the correct color. ) Thanks for the post.

    Reply
  6. Boris

    It’s about fucking time. Every time I saw one of those commercials the past few years I kept asking why the government hadn’t pulled them yet. May these scumbags rot in a federal PMITA prison.

    Reply
  7. GrayGaffer

    There’s a “little blue pill” for “that special part of a man’s body” being pushed as emphatically for some time now, since smiling Bob went away. Same story, same unaccountable coyness, same offers, same terms. I forget the name (so their ad is not all-powerful, I guess).

    Hopefully the same end. I really detest the ad. And the infomercial which seems inescapable when surfing in the early AM. They must have been raking it in.

    Reply
  8. Kerry Maxwell

    (1) feel so inadequate they would feel the need to buy the product (2) be so foolish as to think that magic penis pills work,

    I’m assuming the average person assumed it was an analogue to Viagra.

    Reply
  9. Danimal

    Good news!!

    Reply
  10. Rogue Epidemiologist

    If only men would have spent the money they had thrown away on Enzyte on things like wine, nice dinners, holiday excursions and even sexual technique manuals and benzocaine-laced condoms…

    I bet that will please the wives/girlfriends/mistresses much better than some herbal scam. Hell, even if it inflated the wang triple its original size, I don’t think Enzyte could accomplish what good ol’ fashioned romance could do.

    Don’t know how it plays out for gay men, though.

    Reply
  11. tincture

    Any word on when we’ll get some real penis pills? Boob pills would be sweet too.

    Reply
  12. Anonymous

    It is sad to see the power advertising has over basic rationality

    Fixed that for you…

    Reply

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