A federal grand jury in Miami has indicted a Florida man and his three sons for fraudulently marketing and selling a toxic industrial bleach as a supposed cure for Covid-19, cancer, Alzheimer’s, diabetes, autism, malaria, hepatitis, Parkinson’s, herpes, HIV/Aids, and a range of other medical disorders.
According to the indictment, Mark Grenon, 62, and his sons Jonathan Grenon, 34, Jordan Grenon, 26, and Joseph Grenon, 32, all of Bradenton, “manufactured, promoted, and sold the chemical solution that ingested orally became chlorine dioxide, a powerful bleach typically used for industrial water treatment or bleaching textiles, pulp, and paper.”.
The indictment says the Grenons sold tens of thousands of bottles of “Miracle Mineral Solution” (MMS) nationwide, claiming it could treat, prevent and cure Covid-19. The indictment alleges that the Grenons received more than $1m.
The US Food and Drug Administration has not approved MMS for treatment of Covid-19 or any other use and has warned that drinking the solution is the same as drinking bleach and could cause dangerous side effects. “including severe vomiting, diarrhea and life-threatening low blood pressure”.
According to Guardian reporting, in April last year Mark Grenon wrote to then president Donald Trump to promote industrial bleach as “a wonderful detox that can kill 99% of the pathogens in the body”.
At a subsequent White House briefing, and to the visible astonishment of experts, Trump said disinfectant “knocks [the coronavirus] out in a minute. One minute!”
He went on to ask: “Is there a way we can do something, by an injection inside or almost a cleaning? Because you see it gets in the lungs and it does a tremendous number on the lungs, so it’d be interesting to check that.”
Trump walked back the idea amid widespread alarm and as Reckitt Benckiser, the maker of disinfectants Lysol and Dettol, warned: “Under no circumstance should our disinfectant products be administered into the human body.”
Trump claimed to have been “asking a question sarcastically to reporters like you, just to see what would happen”.
The Grenons are alleged to have sold their bleach solution under the guise of Genesis II Church of Health and Healing, a pseudo-charitable business they are accused of creating to side-step regulation and prosecution.
The business’s own websites describe it as a “non-religious church”. Mark Grenon has acknowledged that Genesis “has nothing to do with religion” and has said he set up the organisation to “legalise the use of MMS” and avoid “going to jail”.
The government has also charged the Grenons with criminal contempt, for allegedly violating civil court orders to stop distribution of MMS, and for allegedly threatening a presiding judge and warning that if the government tried to prevent distribution they would “pick up guns” and instigate “a Waco”.
That was a reference to an event in 1993 in which more than 70 people died during a raid by federal and state authorities on a cult in Texas.
According to the indictment, a search by federal authorities at the Bradenton home of Jonathan Grenon seized dozens of drums containing nearly 10,000lb of sodium chlorite powder, thousands of bottles of MMS and loaded firearms including a pump-action shotgun concealed in a custom-made violin case.
If convicted on charges of conspiracy and criminal contempt, the Grenons could face life imprisonment.
Mark and Joseph Grenon are presently in Colombia, the government said. Jonathan and Jordan Grenon are in US custody. They were due to be arraigned on Monday.
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