ARTHUR VANMOOR SENTENCED TO 210 MONTHS IN JAIL FOR SELLING FAKE CANCER CURE

The Department of Justice announced on Friday that Arthur Vanmoor was sentenced by United States in Ft. Lauderdale, Florida, to a term of 210 months in prison and a term of 3 years of supervised release. This action follows Vanmoor’s conviction on January 18, 2008, by a federal jury sitting in Fort Lauderdale of 19 separate counts that included Conspiracy to Commit Mail Fraud, Wire Fraud, Misbranding of Drugs and the Introduction of Unapproved New Drugs into Interstate Commerce.

Vanmoor hired individuals to create and write content for web sites with names such as www.cancercure.org and www.migrainemiracle.com to promote his products, “Cancer Control” and “Migraine Miracle,” by falsely claiming, among other things, that the products were FDA approved drugs guaranteed to cure numerous forms of cancer and migraine headaches. Vanmoor further arranged for the web sites to contain fake articles purportedly written by doctors. These fake articles were accompanied by pictures of people dressed like doctors holding the products as well as fictitious patient testimonials recommending the products.

In December of 2005, the United States Attorney’s Office obtained a temporary restraining order against Vanmoor and others prohibiting the continued promotion, advertisement, production, shipment, and/or sale of “Cancer Control,” “Migraine Miracle,” “Flu Fighter,” and any other non-FDA-approved drugs in interstate commerce. Vanmoor nevertheless continued to maintain his web sites and calling lines after the entry of the temporary restraining order. The court in the civil case found Vanmoor to be in civil contempt, and in January 2006 the United States indicted Vanmoor for criminal contempt as well as conspiracy to commit mail fraud, wire fraud, misbranding of drugs and the introduction of unapproved new drugs into interstate commerce. In August 2007, Vanmoor was extradited to the United States from the Netherlands to face the charges in this case.