A Utah man named Gordon Hunter Pedersen, 64, was sentenced to three years in prison and one year of supervised release for pretending to be a doctor and scamming people.
He falsely claimed his products, which included silver lozenges, probiotics, soap, mouthwash, and gel, could cure various illnesses like diabetes and COVID-19. Pedersen made around $6.1 million from his scheme through his company, My Doctor Suggests, LLC, where he served as the spokesperson and main marketer.
From 2012 to 2020, he falsely promoted these products as effective treatments for ailments such as diabetes, arthritis, pneumonia, COVID-19, and the flu. His sales peaked in 2020 during the COVID-19 pandemic before vaccines were available.
Pedersen was charged with mail fraud for using the U.S. Postal Service to deliver these products and also faced charges for introducing misbranded drugs into interstate commerce with the intent to defraud and mislead. He evaded law enforcement for three years before being caught.
The investigation was carried out by the FBI Salt Lake City Field Office, Homeland Security Investigations, the FDA’s Office of Criminal Investigation, and the U.S. Marshals Service. If you have information about COVID-19 fraud, you are encouraged to contact the Department of Justice’s National Center for Disaster Fraud (NCDF) Hotline through the disaster complaint form.