Federal agents have arrested a Utah man previously indicted for allegedly posing as a physician and selling a baseless COVID-19 cure, ending a three-year manhunt.
During surveillance in July, federal agents spotted Gordon Pedersen, 63, the U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of Utah said in an Aug. 14 news release. A warrant for his arrest was first issued in August of 2020, after Mr. Pedersen failed to appear for an indictment in federal court.
At the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, Mr. Pedersen allegedly began promoting and selling an ingestible silver-based product as a cure for COVID-19 without evidence the products could treat the disease, and falsely represented himself online as an "Anti-Aging Medical Doctor" to do so. The indictment was returned by a federal grand jury in Salt Lake City in July 2020, charging Mr. Pedersen with "mail fraud, wire fraud and felony introduction of misbranded drugs into interstate commerce with intent to defraud and mislead," according to Utah authorities.
Mr. Pedersen was scheduled to make his initial court appearance Aug. 15.