A U.S. appeals court ordered the marketers of Seasilver, an alleged phony cure-all supplement, to pay roughly $120 million for failure to comply with an earlier ruling, which required them to pay $3 million in consumer redress.

The decision by a U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit affirmed a district court order requiring Jason and Bela Berkes, Seasilver, USA, Inc. and Americaloe, Inc., Carlsbad, CA, to pay almost $120 million under an agreement with the Federal Trade Commission.

The March 2004 order barred them from making false or misleading claims and included the $120 million judgment that would have been suspended if they paid $3 million within a specified time. After failing to meet the payment terms, a district court granted the commission’s request to enforce the stipulated judgment in June 2006. The defendants then appealed the decision.

According to the FTC, the defendants claimed that the dietary supplement Seasilver, a liquid multivitamin product, was clinically proven to treat or cure 650 diseases.

The commission’s initial action against the defendants was part of “Operation Cure.All,” a law enforcement and consumer education campaign to combat health-related fraud on the Internet. Law enforcement actions were coordinated among the FTC, FDA, Health Canada, Canada’s Competition Bureau, and state Attorneys General against marketers who prey on consumers.