Antitrust Lawyer Blog
The Federal Trade Commission stopped a father, his two sons, and their network of companies from deceptively selling a healthcare business opportunity with false promises of earning up to a million dollars in profits. In addition, the FTC halted their sale of an herbal tea product, marketed with claims that it could prevent, treat, or cure a number of diseases, including AIDS, diabetes, cancer, arthritis, strokes, and heart disease. The defendants will turn over all of their frozen assets to settle the FTC’s charges.
According to the FTC, the family and their companies operated a traveling road show, where the father, Jeffrey Wayne (J.W.) McLain held “healthcare conferences” at large hotels and convention centers. At those conferences, J.W. McLain conned consumers into purchasing bogus healthcare business ventures for $2,495. The defendants offered to share their supposedly lucrative business model, promising consumers start-up assistance and claiming that they could earn one million a year.
Upon further investigation of defendants, the FTC discovered that the father, one son, Alexander McLain, and the companies were engaged in a second healthcare fraud, selling an herbal tea that purportedly prevented, treated, or cured a number of serious diseases. The FTC charged that claims about the healing powers of the tea, marketed under the names “Prophet 3H,” “Ezekiel Cleansing Tea,” and “Ezekiel Healing Tea,” were false and unsubstantiated.
The order against the father and the companies enters a judgment of $26,645,479. The order against Alexander enters a $4,974,449 judgment, and the order against Victor enters a $125,900 judgment. All of the judgments are suspended based on sworn financial disclosures from the defendants.
Robert Doyle
(202) 589-1834
rdoyle@dbmlawgroup.com