A Utah man accused of falsely claiming to be a medical doctor has been arrested for allegedly hocking ingestible silver products as a fraudulent COVID-19 miracle cure, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Utah.
Gordon Hunter Pedersen, 63, was arrested on Aug. 9. In 2020, he fled prosecution for seven felony charges, leading to a three-year manhunt.
Authorities allege the Cedar Hills, Utah, native uploaded YouTube videos selling a “structural alkaline silver” as a preventive remedy for COVID-19. While dressed in a white lab coat and wearing a stethoscope, Pedersen said the duplicitous drug “resonates, or vibrates, at a frequency that destroys the membrane of the virus, making the virus incapable of attaching to any healthy cell, or to infect you in any way.”
Pedersen did not have any legitimate evidence that the ingestible alkaline silver product could treat or cure the disease, but still pushed for online sales.
The U.S. Attorney’s Office also alleged Pedersen falsely claimed to be a board-certified “anti-aging medical doctor” with a PhD in immunology and naturopathic medicine.
As per the indictment, Peterson was charged with mail fraud, wire fraud and felony introduction of misbranded drugs into interstate commerce with intent to defraud and mislead.
Pedersen made at least US$2 million (about C$2.7 million) selling his fraudulent COVID-19 cure, according to court documents. He has allegedly tried to sell silver as a remedy for a number of diseases since at least 2014, including diabetes, arthritis and pneumonia. He regularly advertised his pseudo-drug in Facebook posts, through various websites and podcast appearances.
- Harvey Weinstein hospitalized after return to jail following rape conviction overturn
- California mom accidentally invites 487 people to child’s 1st birthday
- ‘Hiroshima-level casualties’ feared in final battle for North Darfur
- Canada is unblocking aid to Afghanistan but delay is ‘extremely frustrating’: advocate
The products were sold through Pederson’s companies GP Silver LLC and My Doctor Suggests LLC, which he partially owned. Some of the ingestible silver products sold for up to US$299.95 (nearly C$405) for a gallon of the fake cure.
The three-year manhunt for Pedersen came to an end last week when he was spotted on surveillance footage at a gas station about 64 kilometres south of Salt Lake City, Utah.
In 2020, the U.S. Department of Justice issued an arrest warrant for Pedersen after he failed to appear in federal court on an indictment.
Pedersen and his lawyer have not commented publicly on his arrest. He appeared in federal court in Salt Lake City on Tuesday. A trial date has not been set, but prosecutors argued Pedersen is a flight risk and should be detained until his hearing.
Pedersen’s arrest came in part due to the efforts of a U.S. federal task force that works to locate and prosecute organizations and individuals that “profit unlawfully from the pandemic” using misinformation and unproven treatments.
COVID-19 scams are not exclusive to the U.S. In Canada, there have been many COVID-19 scams since the emergence of the virus, including counterfeit vaccines, counterfeit vaccine passports and various miracle cures.
If you are contacted by a scammer, the government of Canada recommends citizens report the interaction to the Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre.
Comments