Don Lapre infomercial peddler died

[Cash Calloway]

Just heard this on the radio last night. Hopefully no one posted about this already but since Steve Jobs has a thread I think a business man of another sort deserves a thread. After all they did do a Saturday Night Live skit on him many moons ago


Donald "Don" D. Lapre (born May 19, 1964 – October 2, 2011) was an American TV pitchman. Lapre was a high school dropout, who became a multi-level marketing salesman and infomercial huckster. His work involved such products as "The Greatest Vitamin in the World" and the "Making Money Package", and he was criticized as selling questionable business plans that often did not work for his clients. In June 2011, Lapre was charged with 41 counts of conspiracy, mail fraud, wire fraud and promotional money laundering related to his internet businesses and he was arrested on June 24, 2011 for failing to appear in court to face these charges.
Consumer watchdog organizations such as Quackwatch had accused Lapre of peddling get-rich-quick schemes. Web sites such as the Ripoff Report had numerous consumer complaints about Lapre and his products and business practices. Lapre had been quoted as saying, "...I really don't give a rat's ass about what people think about me."
According to a June 15, 2011, Associated Press article, Lapre was indicted by a federal grand jury in Phoenix, AZ on June 8, 2011 on accusations of running a nationwide scheme to sell worthless Internet businesses. Federal prosecutors have accused Lapre of bilking over 220,000 victims out of nearly $52 million. He has been charged with 41 counts of conspiracy, mail fraud, wire fraud, promotional money laundering, and transactional money laundering.
On June 22, 2011, a Federal judge issued a bench warrant for Lapre after he failed to show up for his arraignment on 41 counts of fraud.
On June 27, 2011, Don Lapre was arrested at a Lifetime Fitness location in Tempe, AZ, with serious self inflicted knife wounds to his groin, and had reportedly lived in the Lifetime Fitness location for 2 days.

While in jail, Lapre committed suicide on the morning of October 2, 2011.

[HAMILROCK]

I honestly never heard of this guy...

[JR7302001]

I remember this clown!

[ParrotHead]

So he was a scammer

[Mendoza Line]

Yeah, I remember this guy. Didn't know he was in trouble, though. What a puss, killing himself.

Would've probably gotten a "Club Fed" prision with silk sheets, plasma tv in his room, and sushi Fridays.

[tw burke]

Originally Posted by Mendoza Line

Yeah, I remember this guy. Didn't know he was in trouble, though. What a puss, killing himself.

Would've probably gotten a "Club Fed" prision with silk sheets, plasma tv in his room, and sushi Fridays.

but a sore ass

[revnecro1273]

don't recall this dude

[vikesfan]

Do remember his tv infomercials back in 1990's on cable tv late at night usually.

[SPARK]

[mrmarket]

I never heard of him before. Still only one king of infomercials:

Tom Vu and his babes - YouTube

[aztriman]

Guy was a scumbag. From my neck of the woods in Phoenix. Total douchebag. RIP.

[JR7302001]

Originally Posted by mrmarket

I never heard of him before. Still only one king of infomercials:

Tom Vu and his babes - YouTube

"Do you think these girls like me? NO, they like my money!" lol

[Cash Calloway]

Vu was a classic, today he plays poker for a living. Ha no suprise there. Here's a list of some Vu's famous dialogue from his infomercials. Love #3 myself.

Top 10 Tommy Vu Quotes:

1.“There’s an old American saying. It’s called, ‘Get off your butt and do it!’”
2.“Today I could relax and enjoy life around my mansion. Watch the waterfall in the front, the waterfall in the back…the waterfall inside the house. I get tired of hearing the water running.”
3.“Don’t listen to your friends. They’re losers!”
4.“If you’re not willing to spend three free hours to learn from a self-made millionaire to maximize your opportunity, you deserve to be broke!”
5.“I hope you enjoy seeing my waterfall as much as I do. I built this water fountain right in front of my estate so I feel good about it. I feel successful every time I come home.”
6.“At first I got lots of discouragement from friends and strangers who are losers…I had to keep telling these people every time, ‘You are losers! Get out of my way!’”
7.“A lot of people will tell you, ‘Don’t come to the seminar. It’s a get-rich-quick plan.’ Well, tell them it is a get-rich-quick plan because life is too short to get rich slow.”
8.“Today I’m going to show you how to drive a sports car. First, you need a lot of money!”
9.“Do you think these girls like me? No! They like my money.”
10.“Years ago, when I was a busboy at the country club I used to work at, one night I got all the guts in this world. I walked over to this nice old man, I give him some water and I say, ‘Sir, I’m giving you some water. Would you please tell me how to be rich like you, sir?’ And lucky for me, the old man say, ‘Well, stay after work and I show you how.’ I condense that old man’s secret into just three little words…three little words that helped me overcome all the obstacles in my life.’”

Vu’s three little words were, “Don’t give up.”