Donald Barrett, Infomercial King, In $54 Million Lawsuit

If you're like many customers who were suckered into buying products based on specious claims made in infomercials, Coral Calcium probably isn't doing you a whole lot of good. "But," you say, "I saw it on TV. It must be true." That's the power of good looking smooth talkers who buy up 30 minutes of late night air time. They're not doing it for your benefit. They don't even know you. But they know your money.

Kevin Trudeau was recently fined $5 million and banned from making infomercials that sold any kind of product and banned from publishing books for three years. The courts found he was a consummate deceiver. And now, his slimy business partner is facing the courts. Donald Barrett may have to return $54 million to his unsuspecting victims for selling Coral Calcium because he deceived customers about its benefits. According to the Boston Herald:

In July, Judge George O’Toole ruled that Barrett’s infomercial on Coral Calcium was deceptive when it promised it would cure cancer, Parkinson’s and heart disease. The judge also found that the advertisement misrepresented research published in the American Medical Association and the New England Journal of Medicine that the calcium supplement “reversed cancer.”

I really don't know how people got suckered in by this clown. The first thing that comes to my mind whenever I see him is Chicago gangster...a character straight out of the early 20th century mafia. His smugness is palpable:

Barrett, who appeared on the witness stand yesterday in a crisp blue cotton shirt and a polka dot tie, was peppered with questions from Hippsley about why income on his tax returns differed from the amount of cash deposited into his bank accounts in Beverly. “I have no idea, you’ll have to ask my accountant,” he said with a grin.

It's about time he's taken down a notch. Here's a smattering of his husterisms. No need to watch the full thing...a minute will give you the idea.