A Florida man and his three sons are facing federal charges for allegedly selling bottles of toxic bleach pegged as COVID-19 a “miracle cure,” Florida’s local NBC affiliate reports.
Federal prosecutors claim that Mark Grenon, Jonathan Grenon, Jordan Grenon, and Joseph Grenon were marketing a toxic industrial bleach as a non-FDA approved Miracle Mineral Solution for various illnesses including cancer, Alzheimer’s disease, diabetes, autism, malaria, hepatitis, Parkinson’s disease, herpes, and HIV/AIDS. Drinking MMS is the same as consuming bleach and resulted in dangerous side effects like “severe vomiting, diarrhea, and life-threatening low blood pressure.”
The family allegedly manufactured the bleach in Jonathan Grenon’s backyard in Bradenton, Florida. They then started to market the product under something called the Genesis II Church of Health and Healing, which they’re accused of creating to avoid government regulation and criminal prosecution.
Per court documents, the church’s website described it as a “non-religious church.” Also, Mark Grenon is named as the establishment’s co-founder and has habitually acknowledged that it “has nothing to do with religion.” In fact, he admitted to founding the church to “legalize the use” of Miracle Mineral Solution to evade “going to jail.”
MMS could be purchased through “donations” on the church’s website but donation amounts were set at a mandatory minimum, leading prosecutors to believe that these were merely price points. Federal investigators believe that the family was able to sell “tens of thousands” of bottles worldwide, accumulating more than $1 million in sales.
Each suspect is now being held on one count of conspiracy to commit fraud and two counts of criminal contempt. If convicted, they face up to life imprisonment.
