Gordon Pedersen, Silver Product Sales with False COVID-19 Claims, Utah 2020
Utah Man Sells Fake COVID-19 Cure
SALT LAKE CITY – A federal court in Utah has entered an injunction halting the sale of a fraudulent coronavirus (COVID-19) treatment, the U.S. Department of Justice announced today.
In response to a civil complaint and accompanying court papers filed on April 27, 2020, in Salt Lake City, the U.S. District Court for the District of Utah issued a temporary restraining order against defendants Gordon Pedersen of Cedar Hills, Utah, and his companies, My Doctor Suggests LLC and GP Silver LLC. The civil complaint alleges that the defendants are fraudulently promoting and selling various silver products for the treatment and prevention of COVID-19.
The court’s order temporarily enjoins the defendants from continuing to sell or distribute their silver products for the diagnosis, cure, mitigation, treatment, or prevention of any disease, including COVID-19. A separate court order temporarily freezes defendants’ assets in order to preserve the court’s ability to grant effective final relief and to maintain the status quo. A hearing on the government’s request for a preliminary injunction is set for May 12, 2020.
“The U.S. Department of Justice will take swift action to protect consumers from those who would recklessly exploit this public health crisis by offering phony cure-alls for the treatment and prevention of COVID-19,” said Assistant Attorney General Jody Hunt of the U.S. Department of Justice’s Civil Division. “We work closely with our partners at the Food and Drug Administration and will move quickly to shut down schemes that promote and sell unlawful products during this pandemic.”
Defendant: Gordon Pedersen
Criminal Charges: Fraudulently promoting and selling various silver products for the treatment and prevention of COVID-19
City and State: Salt Lake City, Utah
Exact Date: April 27, 2020
Sentence or Outcome: Temporary restraining order and asset freeze
Dollar amounts: None mentioned
The complaint alleges that, beginning in early 2020, the defendants conducted a scheme to defraud consumers throughout the United States, promoting and selling silver products based on fraudulent claims of protection against, and treatment for, COVID-19. According to the complaint, the defendants have made a wide variety of false and misleading claims touting silver products as a preventative for COVID-19, including that having silver in the bloodstream will “usher” any coronavirus out of the body and that “it has been proven that Alkaline Structured Silver will destroy all forms of viruses, it will protect people from the Coronavirus.”
The enforcement action is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Joel A. Ferre of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Utah and Trial Attorneys Speare I. Hodges and Sarah Williams of the U.S. Department of Justice, Civil Division’s Consumer Protection Branch. The FDA’s Office of Criminal Investigations and Office of the Chief Counsel is also assisting with the case.
The claims made in the complaint are allegations that, if the case were to proceed to trial, the government must prove to receive a permanent injunction against the defendants.
Key Facts
- State: Utah
- Category: Fraud & Financial Crimes
- Source: DOJ Press Release â†â€â€
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