Utah-based ‘fake doctor’ arrested after three-year manhunt

LINDON, Utah — A three year search came to an end after a 63-year-old fugitive was caught on gas station surveillance camera. The Utah District Attorney’s office said he failed to appear in federal court for claiming to be a doctor and selling alleged fake COVID-19 medication on the internet.

At the beginning of COVID-19 in 2020, Gordon Hunter Pedersen of Cedar Hills posed as a board certified “Anti-Aging Medical Doctor”. He falsely claimed a PhD in immunology and a PhD in Naturopathic Medicine and sold a medication called  “structural alkaline silver” or “silver solution” through the website My Doctor Suggests.

The site was shown through bank records to jump by 400% in revenue from January to April in 2020 — approximately $2 million in that time frame.

“[The drug] resonates, or vibrates, at a frequency that destroys the membrane of the virus, making the virus incapable of attaching to any healthy cell or to infect you in any way,” said Pedersen on his YouTube channel where he appeared in a white lab coat with a monogrammed “Dr. Gordon Pedersen”.

A search warrant was served for Pederson’s house on April 28, 2020 where he was interviewed by federal agents. Pederson told them that his drug did destroy the COVID-19 virus but admitted that he had exaggerated his credentials in product advertisements.

On July 23, 2020 Pedersen was indicted by a federal grand jury for Mail Fraud, Wire Fraud, Felony Introduction of Misbranded Drugs into Interstate Commerce with Intent to Defraud and Mislead. The indictment was delivered to his address.

In August, after Pederson hadn’t appeared at his court dates, Judge Bennett issued a warrant for his arrest.

Pedersen continued to flee and further sent the Court his own citizen-type filings to meddle with the situation. His location at the time of the filings was unknown. He claimed in the docket entries that he was “not any kind of U.S. citizen” and instead a “corporate entity”.

Initial reports suggested that Pederson might have been located in a log cabin somewhere in Utah or Wyoming. Early in the investigation, Pedersen’s wife, Julia Currey was interviewed and told the deputies she didn’t know where her husband was. The DA’s office stated that she further told them “[his lawyers and friends] were taking care of Gordon.”

On July 5, 2023, Special Agent Paul Parkinson noticed the garage door was open at Pedersen’s known address. A red sedan exited the garage and Parkinson followed. Upon running the license plate, he determined the car was a rental in Currey’s name. Parkinson followed the car to a gas station in Lindon, Utah where Pedersen got out of the car.

Surveillance cameras would later show Pedersen purchasing fuel and a beverage with cash. He was later taken into custody.

Because of his failure to appear in court for such an extended time, Pedersen has been deemed a flight-risk. Authorities are also concerned he might present a danger to his community, and therefore he is being held in custody until his pending Civil Case. He’s scheduled to appear at a detention hearing on Tuesday, August 15, 2023 at 1:30 p.m at the Orrin G. Hatch United States District Courthouse in downtown Salt lake City.

In 2021, the Attorney General established a COVID-19 Fraud Enforcement Task Force to pursue and combat fraud cases like Pedersen’s because of the growing issue.