UPDATE: The judge in this case quickly threw out all of Usana’s claims against Barry Minkow, except one. That final cause of action was settled with Usana paying Barry Minkow $200,000. In exchange, Minkow agreed to remove from the internet all materials about Usana under his control.

Usana Health Science, the multi-level marketing company investigated by Barry Minkow and team (that includes me!) has filed a defamation lawsuit against Barry in federal court. Naturally, the company is quick to point out that Minkow was a convicted felon who served time in prison for securities fraud. Barry has turned his life around, becoming a Christian pastor and assisting law enforcement in investigating and shutting down multiple investment scams. The FBI even has Barry train its employees on identifying and investigating white collar crime.

Usana is claiming that Barry misrepresented details in his report in order to make a profit off a drop in stock prcie, since he holds put options for Usana stock. (Incidentally, the stock did fall 15% yesterday to $49.85.) Continue reading