Kevin Mark Trudeau (born February 6, 1963) is an American author, infomercial salesman, convicted felon, founder of the International Pool Tour, self-proclaimed alternative medicine advocate and an unsuccessful defendant in several Federal Trade Commission (FTC) lawsuits. He is known for a number of television infomercials promoting his products and for authoring several books including Natural Cures "They" Don't Want You to Know About .
Trudeau has been charged several times by agencies of the United States government for making claims without evidence. In these cases Trudeau signed a consent decree in which he did not plead guilty but did agree to make the claims and pay a fine. Trudeau subsequently began to sell books, which are protected by the First Amendment and which he thus cannot be prevented from publishing.
Early life
Trudeau grew up in Lynn, Massachusetts, United States, the adopted son of Robert and Mary Trudeau. He attended St. Mary's High School, where he was voted "Most Likely to Succeed" by the class of 1981.
Career
After serving prison time for criminal activity in the early 1990s, Trudeau partnered with his former colleague to join Nutrition for Life, a multi-level marketing firm, where they were very successful. He and his partner were sued by the Illinois Attorney General for running a pyramid scheme. Trudeau and his company entered into a settlement with Illinois and seven other states for $185,000.
Trudeau then went into the business of producing and appearing in infomercials that were broadcast frequently on late night TV in North America and that promoted a range of products, including health aids, dietary supplements (such as coral calcium), real estate investment strategies, memory-improvement courses, baldness remedies, addiction breaking strategies, and reading improvement programs, among others. The claims made in the infomercials resulted in regulatory actions by the FTC, based on his alleged misrepresentations and unsubstantiated claims. In 1998, he was fined, and then in 2004 Trudeau agreed to settle an FTC contempt-of-court action by agreeing to a settlement that banned him from using infomercials to promote products, except for those publications protected by the First Amendment. He also paid a US$2 million settlement.
Trudeau began writing various books and promoting them with infomercials including Natural Cures "They" Don't Want You to Know About published in 2005. After criticism that the book did not contain any natural cures promised in his infomercials (Trudeau claims that he was not able to include them because of threats from the FTC), Trudeau released an updated version of the original book. Subsequently, he published a new book titled More Natural Cures Revealed: Previously Censored Brand Name Products That Cure Disease (ISBN 0-9755995-4-2). According to Trudeau, the book contains the names of actual brand name products that will cure myriad illnesses. In both books Trudeau made numerous claims not supported by science, such as animals in the wild never get sick and that diseases are caused by an imbalance of vital energy, not viruses or bacteria. Science writer Christopher Wanjek picked apart many of these arguments in his July 25, 2006, LiveScience health column, pointing out obvious facts that sick animals simply get eaten by predators. Trudeau next published The Weight-Loss Cure "They" Don't Want You to Know About in 2007. Trudeau's most recent publication, titled Debt Cures "They" Don't Want You to Know About , promises to reveal secret tips and methods consumers can use to eliminate their debt.
Trudeau's books have sold well. Natural Cures was listed in September 2005 by the New York Times as the number-one-selling current nonfiction book in the United States for 25 weeks, and has sold more than five million copies.
Trudeau launched a self-titled Internet radio talk show in February 2009. It also airs on several small radio stations consisting of mostly brokered programming.
Criminal history and legal proceedings
Trudeau was convicted of fraud and larceny in the early 1990s. The FTC has sued him repeatedly. A court order currently restricts his ability to promote and sell any product or service; however, he is permitted to promote books and other publications due to free-speech protection under the First Amendment as long as they are not used to promote or sell products or services and do not contain misrepresentations. On November 19, 2007, a court found Trudeau in contempt of that court order for making what they consider deceptive claims about his book The Weight Loss Cure "They" Don't Want You to Know About . In August 2008, he was fined more than $5 million and banned from infomercials for three years for continuing to make fraudulent claims pertaining to the book. The amount of the money damages was later increased to $37 million.
1990-1991: Larceny and credit card fraud
In 1990, Trudeau posed as a doctor in order to deposit $80,000 in false checks, and in 1991 he pleaded guilty to larceny. Trudeau had used the credit cards of eleven customers of a mega memory product to fraudulently charge approximately $122,735.68. He spent two years in federal prison because of this conviction (Choi, 2005) . Later, in his book Natural Cures , Trudeau claimed that he has since learned from his experience, and is now motivated to help people rather than merely make money for himself.
1996: SEC and various states
Trudeau began working for Nutrition For Life, a multi-level marketing program, in the mid-1990s. In 1996, his recruitment practices were cited by the states of Illinois and Michigan, as well as the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. Illinois sued Trudeau and Jules Leib, his partner, accusing them of operating an illegal pyramid scheme. They settled with Illinois and seven other states for $185,000 after agreeing to change their tactics. Michigan forbade him from operating in the state. A class action lawsuit was filed by stockholders of Nutrition for Life for violations of Texas law, including misrepresenting and/or omitting material information about Nutrition for Life International, Inc.'s business. In August 1997, the company paid $2 million in cash to common stockholders and holders of warrants during the class period to settle the case. The company also paid the plaintiffs' attorney fees of $600,000.
1998: FTC fine
In 1998, Trudeau was fined $500,000, the funds to be used for consumer redress by the FTC, relating to six infomercials he had produced and in which the FTC determined he had made false or misleading claims. These infomercials included "Hair Farming," "Mega Memory System," "Addiction Breaking System," "Action Reading," "Eden's Secret," and "Mega Reading." The products included a "hair farming system" that was supposed to "finally end baldness in the human race," and "a breakthrough that in 60 seconds can eliminate" addictions, discovered when a certain "Dr. Callahan" was "studying quantum physics."
2004: FTC contempt of court and injunction
In June 2003, the FTC filed a complaint in the Northern District of Illinois against Trudeau and some of his companies (Shop America (USA), LLC; Shop America Marketing Group, LLC; and Trustar Global Media, Limited), alleging that disease-related claims for Coral Calcium Supreme were false and unsubstantiated. In July 2003, Trudeau entered into a stipulated preliminary injunction that prohibited him from continuing to make the challenged claims for Coral Calcium Supreme and Biotape.
In the summer of 2004, the court found Trudeau in contempt of court for violating the preliminary injunction, because he had sent out a direct mail piece and produced an infomercial making prohibited claims. The court ordered Trudeau to cease all marketing for coral calcium products.
In September 2004, Trudeau agreed to pay $2 million ($500,000 in cash plus transfer of residential property located in Ojai, California, and a luxury vehicle) to settle charges that he falsely claimed that a coral calcium product can cure cancer and other serious diseases and that a purported analgesic called Biotape can permanently cure or relieve severe pain. He also agreed to a lifetime ban on promoting products using infomercials, but excluded restrictions to promote his books via infomercials. Trudeau was the only person ever banned by the FTC from selling a product via television. Lydia Parnes, speaking for the FTC's Bureau of Consumer Protection stated "This ban is meant to shut down an infomercial empire that has misled American consumers for years." Trudeau claimed the government was trying to discredit his book because he was "exposing them."
2005: Trudeau v. FTC
On February 28, 2005, Trudeau filed a complaint against the FTC in the United States District Court for the District of Columbia, seeking declaratory and injunctive relief. Trudeau also filed a motion for preliminary injunction, which the court denied.
The complaint charged that the FTC had retaliated against him for his criticism of the agency by issuing a press release that falsely characterized and intentionally and deliberately misrepresented the 2004 Final Order. That conduct, Trudeau asserted, exceeded the FTC's authority under 15 U.S.C. § 46(f) and violated the First Amendment. The Federal Trade Commission responded with a motion to dismiss the complaint for lack of subject-matter jurisdiction under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 12(b)(1), and for failure to state a claim for which relief can be granted under Rule 12(b)(6).
The district court granted
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