ITV Distributors are reporting that the company has closed their doors to new distributors as of October 3rd.This is in the wake of the recent FTC and US Court found ITV Direct and defendant Donald Barrett liable for up to $55 million dollars for deceptive claims.
In the court decision, Judge O’Toole concluded that the corporate defendants ITV Direct and Direct Marketing Concepts are liable for deceptive practices, in addition to the companies King Media Inc. and Triad ML Marketing Inc.
Triad functioned as a processing intermediary between Direct Marketing and its customers, while King Media provided television airtime for the infomercials. Both companies profited from their relationship with Barrett.
The FTC sought nearly $55 million from the defendants for their alleged violations, a figure that represented the full amount of consumer sales derived from Coral Calcium Daily and Supreme Greens with MSM.
In his opinion O’Toole said it is appropriate to hold Barrett individually liable because he was the “driving force” behind both infomercials.
“The record makes clear that Barrett played an integral role in commissioning, producing and disseminating both the Coral Calcium and Supreme Greens infomercials,” the judge wrote.
The U.S. District Court order didn’t specify how much the individual defendants each owe. O’Toole clarified that the amount of restitution cannot be resolved based on the legal paperwork filed so far.
On a related note, O’Toole dismissed a lawsuit Barrett filed against the FTC claiming the agency unlawfully infringed his company’s right to due process under the Fifth Amendment and right to free speech.
The lawsuit came after the FTC won a preliminary injunction against ITV Direct and Direct Marketing Concepts.
