Mark Grenon Genesis II Church of Health leader arrested along w/ 3 sons in selling of fake miracle COVID-19 cure, MMS a kind of bleaching agent after previous warning.
A Florida man and his three sons have been booked with federal charges for allegedly peddling a fake coronavirus miracle cure that is actually a concoction used as an industrial bleach.
Mark Grenon, 62, –Jonathan Grenon, 34, Jordan Grenon, 26, and Joseph Grenon, 32 were accused of marketing and selling the product named Miracle Mineral Solution (MMS) through an entity called the Genesis II Church of Health and Healing in Bradenton, according to a criminal complaint filed by the Justice Department.
The toxic solution promoted by Grenon and his sons also known as MMS, is typically used to treat textiles, industrial water, pulp and paper, according to the Food and Drug Administration the Miami New Times reports.
The FDA has not approved the solution for any health-related use and has said ingesting it can cause vomiting and dehydration.
But there’s more.
Unknown number of injuries and deaths
The Grenon’s also marketed the bleaching agent as a cure for other serious health conditions, including cancer, autism and AIDS, according to the complaint.
Prosecutors believe the Grenons sold tens of thousands of bottles of MMS nationwide under the guise of Genesis II Church of Health and Healing, an entity they allegedly created to avoid government regulation.
The brazen move may have led to numerous deaths over the years.
Authorities said that ingesting the MMS product causes the solution to become chlorine dioxide, a powerful bleach that’s typically used for industrial water treatment or bleaching textiles, pulp and paper.
The Federal Drug Administration has received numerous reports of people requiring hospitalizations, developing life-threatening conditions and dying after drinking MMS.
A Miami federal judge in April had ordered Genesis II Church of Health and Healing to stop selling MMS, but the Grenon’s ignored the ruling.
‘We will NOT be participating in any of your UNCONSTITUTIONAL Orders, Summons, etc,’ read one email from Mark Grenon to US District Judge Kathleen Williams.
Read another, ‘Again and again I have written you all that . . . you have NO authority over our Church.’
The father and his sons — are charged with conspiracy to defraud the United States, conspiracy to violate the Federal Food, Drug and Cosmetic Act and criminal contempt.
It remained unclear if any member of the public had purchased the illicit substance in the treatment or prevention of COVID-19.
Of note, the family members’ arrests come two months after President Donald Trump suggested the method as a possible COVID-19 treatment before being quickly debunked at the time as a sham.
Consumers actively and deliberately placed at risk
Days before the president’s remarks, Grenon had written him a letter calling MMS ‘a wonderful detox that can kill 99% of the pathogens in the body’ and ‘can rid the body of Covid-19,‘ The Guardian reported at the time.
It’s not clear whether Trump read the letter and was seeking to promote the dangerous treatment, but he floated the wild claim in front of multiple health experts during a nationally televised coronavirus briefing.
While many questioned anyone taking the miracle cure seriously, the New York City’s Health Department responded to 30 cases of possible exposure to disinfectants in the 18 hours following Trump’s bogus remarks.
It was soon after that the Justice Department obtained court orders seeking to halt the Grenons’ distribution of MMS as part of a separate civil case against them.
‘Making claims that unproven drugs, especially potentially dangerous and unapproved chlorine dioxide products, can cure or prevent COVID-19 or any other disease is unacceptable,’ said Catherine Hermsen, assistant commissioner of the FDA’s Office of Criminal Investigations.
‘The Genesis II Church of Health and Healing has actively and deliberately placed consumers at risk with their fraudulent Miracle Mineral Solution and Americans expect and deserve medical treatments that have been scientifically proven to be safe and effective,’ she said in a statement. ‘The FDA will continue our efforts to make sure these and other like-minded sellers do not jeopardize the health of Americans during this pandemic and in the future.’
