「病気にならない人は知っている」で知られるケヴィン・トルドー(Kevin Trudeau)は実はアメリカでは詐欺師として有名である。これを病気にならなくなった人々は果たして知っているのであろうか？「裁判員制度」が運用され「消費者庁」が創設され、両者が結び付いたとしたら、本記事はもはやアメリカの対岸の火事ではなくなるだろう。シナリオはこうだ。
＃１：国民皆保険制度が消滅して民間保険会社が社会保険・健康保険業務を牛耳るようになった２００Ｘ年、人々は栄養サプリメントを摂取して健康維持に努めた。人気司会者のみ×も×たの番組で紹介された栄養サプリメントコンサルタントで医学博士の何某氏は効果を偽って商品をテレビショッピングで販売。消費者庁は何某氏を詐欺罪や薬事法違反等で刑事告発した。あなたは選ばれた裁判員として何某氏を法廷で見つめている・・・。実際のアメリカの詐欺師、ケヴィン・トルドー(Kevin Trudeau)の事件は以下のようである。
1990-1991:クレジットカード詐欺
偽の小切手を作成して＄８００００を銀行から引き出そうとした事件。トルドーは自ら開発した記憶力増強教材の顧客１１人から集めたクレジットカード情報をもとにして＄１２万２７３５を不当に(詐欺的に)得た。本事件が理由でトルドーは連邦刑務所に２年間服役した。「Natural Cures」と言う著書の中で「これからは単に金儲けの為ではなく、人々を助けたい」と書いたとされているが、これが本当ならば「金儲けだけ」を目的に記憶力増強教材を売り捌き、クレジットカード詐欺を行った事になる。
1996:証券取引委員会と各州政府
「Nutrition For Life」を９０年代半ばで始める。イリノイ州は後にトルドーとパートナーを違法なネズミ講まがいの商法であるとして訴えている。この事で商売法を変える条件に同意しつつイリノイ州と他の７つの州に185000ドルを支払った。ミシガン州ではトルドーの商行為が禁止されている。(1996)テキサス州法も違反していると株主らが訴え、結果として2000万ドルを現金で株主らに返却している。さらに原告側の弁護士費用である600000ドルも負担している。(1997)連邦証券取引委員会からも雇用方法に関して勧告を受ける。
後は和訳が面倒なので(笑)、要約だけ掲載させて下さい。
1998: 米連邦取引委員会(FTC)に罰金を科せられる
2004: FTCが無効とした製品が裁判所より差止命令、これを無視して法廷侮辱罪に
2005: 法廷闘争「Trudeau 対 米連邦取引委員会」
2005: 法廷闘争「Trudeau 対 ニューヨーク消費者保護委員会」
2007: FTCが法廷侮辱罪でTrudeauを訴える(November 19)
1998: FTC fine
In 1998, Trudeau was fined $500,000 to be used for consumer redress by the FTC, relating to six infomercials he had produced and in which the FTC determined he had made false or misleading claims. These infomercials included "Hair Farming," "Mega Memory System," "Addiction Breaking System," "Action Reading," "Eden's Secret," and "Mega Reading."[13][14] The products included a "hair farming system" that was supposed to "finally end baldness in the human race," and "a breakthrough that in 60 seconds can eliminate" addictions, discovered when a certain "Dr. Callahan" was "studying quantum physics." [7][15]
2004: FTC contempt of court and injunction
In June 2003, the FTC filed a complaint in the Northern District of Illinois against Trudeau and some of his companies (Shop America (USA), LLC; Shop America Marketing Group, LLC; and Trustar Global Media, Limited), alleging that disease-related claims for Coral Calcium Supreme were false and unsubstantiated. In July 2003, Trudeau entered into a stipulated preliminary injunction that prohibited him from continuing to make the challenged claims for Coral Calcium Supreme and Biotape.
In the summer of 2004, the court found Trudeau in contempt of court for violating the preliminary injunction, because he had sent out a direct mail piece and produced an infomercial making prohibited claims. The court ordered Trudeau to cease all marketing for coral calcium products.
In September 2004, Trudeau agreed to pay $2 million ($500,000 in cash plus transfer of residential property located in Ojai, California, and a luxury vehicle) to settle charges that he falsely claimed that a coral calcium product can cure cancer and other serious diseases and that a purported analgesic called Biotape can permanently cure or relieve severe pain. He also agreed to a lifetime ban on promoting products with infomercials. However, that did not restrict his right to promote books via infomercials.[1][2][16]
2005: Trudeau v. FTC
On February 28, 2005, Trudeau filed a complaint against the FTC in the United States District Court for the District of Columbia, seeking declaratory and injunctive relief. Trudeau also filed a motion for preliminary injunction, which the court denied. [17]
The complaint charged that the FTC had retaliated against him for his criticism of the agency by issuing a press release that falsely characterized and intentionally and deliberately misrepresented the 2004 Final Order. That conduct, Trudeau asserted, exceeded the FTC’s authority under 15 U.S.C. § 46(f) and violated the First Amendment. The Federal Trade Commission responded with a motion to dismiss the complaint for lack of subject-matter jurisdiction under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 12(b)(1), and for failure to state a claim for which relief can be granted under Rule 12(b)(6).
The district court granted the FTC’s motion to dismiss. First, the court concluded that it lacked subject-matter jurisdiction because the press release was not “a ‘final agency action’” under “section 704 of the [Administrative Procedure Act]”, 5 U.S.C. § 704. Second, the court held, “in the alternative, that Trudeau’s claims failed to state a viable cause of action as a matter of law.”[17]
Trudeau later filed an appeal which resulted in the unsuccessful attempt to reverse the previous court's ruling.[18]
2005: Trudeau v. New York Consumer Protection Board
Trudeau filed a lawsuit on August 11, 2005, accusing the New York State Consumer Protection Board of violating his First Amendment rights by contacting television stations in New York state and urging them to pull Trudeau's infomercials promoting his book Natural Cures "They" Don't Want You to Know About.[19] Trudeau won a temporary restraining order on September 6, 2005 prohibiting the Board from sending letters to the television stations. The temporary restraining order was replaced by a preliminary injunction. However, Trudeau lost a motion to have the Board send a "corrective letter" to the television stations and subsequently dropped all claims for monetary damages. The case is still in litigation.
2007: FTC contempt of court action
The FTC has filed a contempt of court action against Trudeau and the companies that market The Weight Loss Cure 'They' Don't Want You to Know About, alleging that Trudeau is in contempt of a 2004 court order by "deceptively claiming in his infomercials that the book being advertised establishes a weight-loss protocol that is 'easy' to follow." The action was filed in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois on September 17, 2007.[20] According to an FTC Press Release, Trudeau claims that the weight loss plan outlined in the book is easy, can be done at home, and readers can eat anything they want. When consumers buy the book, they find it describes a complex plan that requires intense dieting, daily injections of a prescribed drug that is not easily obtainable, and lifelong dietary restrictions.[21]
On November 19, 2007, Trudeau was found in contempt of the 2004 court order for "patently false" claims in his weight loss book. U.S. District Court Judge Robert W. Gettleman ruled that Trudeau “clearly misrepresents in his advertisements the difficulty of the diet described in his book, and by doing so, he has misled thousands of consumers.” A penalty will be determined at a later hearing.[22][3][4]
＃１：国民皆保険制度が消滅して民間保険会社が社会保険・健康保険業務を牛耳るようになった２００Ｘ年、人々は栄養サプリメントを摂取して健康維持に努めた。人気司会者のみ×も×たの番組で紹介された栄養サプリメントコンサルタントで医学博士の何某氏は効果を偽って商品をテレビショッピングで販売。消費者庁は何某氏を詐欺罪や薬事法違反等で刑事告発した。あなたは選ばれた裁判員として何某氏を法廷で見つめている・・・。実際のアメリカの詐欺師、ケヴィン・トルドー(Kevin Trudeau)の事件は以下のようである。
1990-1991:クレジットカード詐欺
偽の小切手を作成して＄８００００を銀行から引き出そうとした事件。トルドーは自ら開発した記憶力増強教材の顧客１１人から集めたクレジットカード情報をもとにして＄１２万２７３５を不当に(詐欺的に)得た。本事件が理由でトルドーは連邦刑務所に２年間服役した。「Natural Cures」と言う著書の中で「これからは単に金儲けの為ではなく、人々を助けたい」と書いたとされているが、これが本当ならば「金儲けだけ」を目的に記憶力増強教材を売り捌き、クレジットカード詐欺を行った事になる。
1996:証券取引委員会と各州政府
「Nutrition For Life」を９０年代半ばで始める。イリノイ州は後にトルドーとパートナーを違法なネズミ講まがいの商法であるとして訴えている。この事で商売法を変える条件に同意しつつイリノイ州と他の７つの州に185000ドルを支払った。ミシガン州ではトルドーの商行為が禁止されている。(1996)テキサス州法も違反していると株主らが訴え、結果として2000万ドルを現金で株主らに返却している。さらに原告側の弁護士費用である600000ドルも負担している。(1997)連邦証券取引委員会からも雇用方法に関して勧告を受ける。
後は和訳が面倒なので(笑)、要約だけ掲載させて下さい。
1998: 米連邦取引委員会(FTC)に罰金を科せられる
2004: FTCが無効とした製品が裁判所より差止命令、これを無視して法廷侮辱罪に
2005: 法廷闘争「Trudeau 対 米連邦取引委員会」
2005: 法廷闘争「Trudeau 対 ニューヨーク消費者保護委員会」
2007: FTCが法廷侮辱罪でTrudeauを訴える(November 19)
1998: FTC fine
In 1998, Trudeau was fined $500,000 to be used for consumer redress by the FTC, relating to six infomercials he had produced and in which the FTC determined he had made false or misleading claims. These infomercials included "Hair Farming," "Mega Memory System," "Addiction Breaking System," "Action Reading," "Eden's Secret," and "Mega Reading."[13][14] The products included a "hair farming system" that was supposed to "finally end baldness in the human race," and "a breakthrough that in 60 seconds can eliminate" addictions, discovered when a certain "Dr. Callahan" was "studying quantum physics." [7][15]
2004: FTC contempt of court and injunction
In June 2003, the FTC filed a complaint in the Northern District of Illinois against Trudeau and some of his companies (Shop America (USA), LLC; Shop America Marketing Group, LLC; and Trustar Global Media, Limited), alleging that disease-related claims for Coral Calcium Supreme were false and unsubstantiated. In July 2003, Trudeau entered into a stipulated preliminary injunction that prohibited him from continuing to make the challenged claims for Coral Calcium Supreme and Biotape.
In the summer of 2004, the court found Trudeau in contempt of court for violating the preliminary injunction, because he had sent out a direct mail piece and produced an infomercial making prohibited claims. The court ordered Trudeau to cease all marketing for coral calcium products.
In September 2004, Trudeau agreed to pay $2 million ($500,000 in cash plus transfer of residential property located in Ojai, California, and a luxury vehicle) to settle charges that he falsely claimed that a coral calcium product can cure cancer and other serious diseases and that a purported analgesic called Biotape can permanently cure or relieve severe pain. He also agreed to a lifetime ban on promoting products with infomercials. However, that did not restrict his right to promote books via infomercials.[1][2][16]
2005: Trudeau v. FTC
On February 28, 2005, Trudeau filed a complaint against the FTC in the United States District Court for the District of Columbia, seeking declaratory and injunctive relief. Trudeau also filed a motion for preliminary injunction, which the court denied. [17]
The complaint charged that the FTC had retaliated against him for his criticism of the agency by issuing a press release that falsely characterized and intentionally and deliberately misrepresented the 2004 Final Order. That conduct, Trudeau asserted, exceeded the FTC’s authority under 15 U.S.C. § 46(f) and violated the First Amendment. The Federal Trade Commission responded with a motion to dismiss the complaint for lack of subject-matter jurisdiction under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 12(b)(1), and for failure to state a claim for which relief can be granted under Rule 12(b)(6).
The district court granted the FTC’s motion to dismiss. First, the court concluded that it lacked subject-matter jurisdiction because the press release was not “a ‘final agency action’” under “section 704 of the [Administrative Procedure Act]”, 5 U.S.C. § 704. Second, the court held, “in the alternative, that Trudeau’s claims failed to state a viable cause of action as a matter of law.”[17]
Trudeau later filed an appeal which resulted in the unsuccessful attempt to reverse the previous court's ruling.[18]
2005: Trudeau v. New York Consumer Protection Board
Trudeau filed a lawsuit on August 11, 2005, accusing the New York State Consumer Protection Board of violating his First Amendment rights by contacting television stations in New York state and urging them to pull Trudeau's infomercials promoting his book Natural Cures "They" Don't Want You to Know About.[19] Trudeau won a temporary restraining order on September 6, 2005 prohibiting the Board from sending letters to the television stations. The temporary restraining order was replaced by a preliminary injunction. However, Trudeau lost a motion to have the Board send a "corrective letter" to the television stations and subsequently dropped all claims for monetary damages. The case is still in litigation.
2007: FTC contempt of court action
The FTC has filed a contempt of court action against Trudeau and the companies that market The Weight Loss Cure 'They' Don't Want You to Know About, alleging that Trudeau is in contempt of a 2004 court order by "deceptively claiming in his infomercials that the book being advertised establishes a weight-loss protocol that is 'easy' to follow." The action was filed in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois on September 17, 2007.[20] According to an FTC Press Release, Trudeau claims that the weight loss plan outlined in the book is easy, can be done at home, and readers can eat anything they want. When consumers buy the book, they find it describes a complex plan that requires intense dieting, daily injections of a prescribed drug that is not easily obtainable, and lifelong dietary restrictions.[21]
On November 19, 2007, Trudeau was found in contempt of the 2004 court order for "patently false" claims in his weight loss book. U.S. District Court Judge Robert W. Gettleman ruled that Trudeau “clearly misrepresents in his advertisements the difficulty of the diet described in his book, and by doing so, he has misled thousands of consumers.” A penalty will be determined at a later hearing.[22][3][4]
