Family accused of selling $1m of toxic bleach as 'miracle' cure
A family accused of selling a toxic industrial bleach as a coronavirus cure through their Florida-based church has been indicted on federal charges.
A grand jury in Miami, in the United States, returned an indictment late last week charging Mark Grenon, 62, and his sons, Jonathan, 34, Jordan, 26, and Joseph, 32, with one count each of conspiracy to commit fraud and two counts each of criminal contempt.
They face possible life sentences if convicted.
Mark Grenon is the archbishop of the Genesis II Church of Health and Healing, based in Bradenton, Florida.
The church sells the potentially fatal chlorine dioxide as a “Miracle Mineral Solution,” officials said.
The Grenons claim the solution can cure a vast variety of illnesses ranging from cancer to autism, to malaria and Covid-19.
A report on ABC’s 7.30 program in May found the church claimed it was a “wonderful detox” that could kill 99 per cent of pathogens.
Church leader had written to Trump about bleach
In a video posted online, the church leader said he wrote to US President Donald Trump about how chlorine dioxide and industrial bleach could help cure the coronavirus.
A Miami federal judge last April ordered the church to stop selling the substance, but the order was ignored.
According to prosecutors, the men violated court orders and fraudulently produced and sold more than US$1 million (A$1.29 million) of the poisonous "cure".
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When ingested, the solution sold by the Grenons becomes a bleach that is typically used for such things as treating textiles, industrial water, pulp and paper, according to the US Food and Drug Administration.
Authorities said ingesting these products is the same as drinking bleach and can be fatal.
In April last year, then US president Trump was roundly criticised for suggesting at a press conference people could be cured from Covid-19 by injecting disinfectant into the body.
with AP
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