-Caveat Lector- 'Braswell "has probably managed to sell more health-related products with misleading claims than anyone else in the history of the world. His gross intake has very likely been over a billion dollars"' Another Pardon Stirs Controversy Herbal Marketer Faces U.S. Tax Evasion Probe By Peter Slevin Washington Post Staff Writer Tuesday, February 6, 2001; Page A03 When President Bill Clinton pardoned 140 people on his final day in the White House, wealthy herbal remedy marketer A. Glenn Braswell made the list. Presidential forgiveness covered Braswell's 1983 convictions for fraud, perjury and tax evasion, restoring his civil rights. Yet, even as Clinton was granting Braswell a pardon, federal investigators were examining what they called "a massive tax evasion and money-laundering scheme" allegedly conducted by Braswell and his California dietary supplement empire. No charges have been filed in the investigation of what a prosecutor in California court documents describes as an effort by Braswell to move millions of dollars offshore through a shell company. It is not clear whether Clinton was aware of the current criminal investigation. The former president has not discussed the case, and efforts to reach him for comment through spokesman Jake Siewert were unsuccessful. Justice Department officials would not discuss Braswell's pardon. Amid the flurry of last-minute pardons and commutations, Braswell's name was one of about two dozen announced without details, suggesting that Clinton had left little time for federal law officers to evaluate Braswell. Yet, less than four months before his pardon, Braswell invoked the Fifth Amendment against self-incrimination more than 100 times in a two-hour deposition in a South Carolina civil case, opposing lawyer Vernon Glenn said yesterday. After the pardon was announced Jan. 20, federal investigators worried that Clinton had pardoned Braswell for any criminal charges that could arise from the current investigation. Assured yesterday by the Justice Department that the pardon covered only the 1983 case, Los Angeles prosecutors said they will continue to pursue the money-laundering and tax matters. Former Miami U.S. attorney Kendall Coffey, one of former vice president Al Gore's attorneys in the Florida recount case, represented Braswell in his effort to obtain a pardon. Coffey did not return several telephone calls seeking comment. Washington attorney Gerald Feffer, who represents Braswell in the tax and money-laundering probe, declined to discuss his client. Braswell "has probably managed to sell more health-related products with misleading claims than anyone else in the history of the world. His gross intake has very likely been over a billion dollars," said Stephen Barrett, who runs an independent watchdog organization, Quackwatch.com. "I can't imagine that anyone who was involved knew what Braswell was all about. If they did, this is even worse." In the 16 days since the pardons were announced, Clinton has been excoriated for his decisions and the last-minute confusion of the process. In a number of cases, he issued pardons or commutations without conducting traditional consultations with the Justice Department. The pardon of fugitive commodities trader Marc Rich, who renounced his U.S. citizenship to avoid extradition and trial, has triggered two Capitol Hill inquiries. Braswell's companies, including Gero Vita International, sell herbs and vitamins, and market them through mass mailings and a company magazine, the Journal of Longevity. Advertisements proclaim the ability to slow the aging process, cure hereditary baldness, shrink prostate glands and enlarge breasts, among other achievements. Among the doubters are the Food and Drug Administration and the Federal Trade Commission, which have issued notices critical of the companies. In 1995, the FDA banned the importation of Gero Vita products sold on the basis of claims that they can prevent or treat disease. The editors of Consumer Reports wrote in 1998: "We see a lot of misleading marketing, but what spews out of Gero Vita Industries rivals the worst." They said the company sent glossy booklets "masquerading as science. The booklets cite actual studies, but twist the findings to support the company's own unsubstantiated claims." "One of the company's most highly hyped products is GH3, a vitamin and herb medley that costs $29.95 a month," the magazine continued. "The promotional material calls it an anti-aging formula. The FDA calls it 'an old health-fraud product.' " IRS agents raided Braswell's business in Marina Del Rey, Calif., in 1999. In a document filed six months later in an unrelated Santa Monica civil suit, Assistant U.S. Attorney Paul H. Rochmes accused Braswell of conducting a "massive" scheme to ship money beyond the reach of U.S. tax authorities. Rochmes alleged that Braswell, "for his own benefit," created a shell company and directed payments to the firm for no other apparent purpose than moving money offshore. The prosecutor said Bermuda-based Deleon Global Trading was paid for products it purportedly shipped, yet it had no staff, factory or warehouse -- and billed at inflated prices. Also last year, the George W. Bush campaign and the Florida Republican Party returned $250,000 of Braswell's contributions after Braswell embarrassed Bush's brother Jeb, the Florida governor. The Journal of Longevity printed a doctored letter of endorsement of alternative medicine under Jeb Bush's byline. "Do the people who arrange for the pardons investigate?" Barrett asked. "Whoever is involved in the process should be required to submit the names to some other government body to investigate. There should be some oversight." Special correspondent Jeff Adler and researcher Margot Williams contributed to this report. ================================================================= Kadosh, Kadosh, Kadosh, YHVH, TZEVAOT FROM THE DESK OF: *Michael Spitzer* <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The Best Way To Destroy Enemies Is To Change Them To Friends ================================================================= <A HREF="http://www.ctrl.org/">www.ctrl.org</A> DECLARATION & DISCLAIMER ========== CTRL is a discussion & informational exchange list. Proselytizing propagandic screeds are unwelcomed. Substance—not soap-boxing—please! 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