Somehow Pedersen evaded law enforcement for the past three years, despite some serious charges, including mail fraud, wire fraud and felony introduction of misbranded drugs into interstate commerce with intent to defraud and mislead.
So how much did he make? According to court documents,
Between January 2020 and the end of April 2020, Pedersen's company saw a 400% jump in revenue, equating to about $2 million. Pedersen sold the products on MyDoctorSuggests.com as well as Amazon and Shopify. Prices ranged up to $299.95 for a gallon of the silver products.
Source: Salt Lake Tribune
Staring into a web camera while wearing a white lab coat and stethoscope, Gordon Hunter Pedersen spent the first few months of the COVID-19 pandemic peddling silver products as a fraudulent cure for the disease, prosecutors say.
Pedersen had no clinical evidence that colloidal silver cured coronavirus — and he wasn’t a medical doctor. In connection with the scheme, the Cedar Hills man was federally indicted in July 2020 with mail fraud, wire fraud and felony introduction of misbranded drugs into interstate commerce with intent to defraud and mislead.
But after failing to appear in court the next month, Pedersen spent three years on the run, evading capture until federal agents spotted the 63-year-old in Utah County last month, where he was ultimately taken into custody, the U.S. attorney’s office for Utah announced Monday.
He was scheduled to appear in federal court for his initial appearance Tuesday afternoon.
In online photos and videos promoting the products, the Utah man sat in front of a wall of what appeared to be framed degrees while hawking the baseless “silver solution” in the midst of a worldwide pandemic, claiming to be a “board certified anti-aging medical doctor” and to have a Ph.D. in immunology and naturopathic medicine, according to the Department of Justice.