Court cases closing in on pitchman Trudeau

CHICAGO – In the decade since regulators first accused him of conning consumers into buying his weight-loss books, TV pitchman Kevin Trudeau has been ordered off the air, fined nearly $38 million and threatened several times with jail for contempt of court.

Yet Trudeau hasn’t paid a penny in damages, claiming he has no assets even as government lawyers alleged he hid his vast wealth in offshore trusts and shell companies while jetting around the world giving speeches to his devotees.

On his radio show and webcasts, the dapper, tanned Trudeau insists it’s all an effort to silence him, a push by vindictive bureaucrats who don’t want the public to know the secrets of the rich and powerful. Trudeau not only has refused to shut up but also laid down the gauntlet.

“I look at this government right in the eye and say, ‘You want to put me in jail?’ ” he said in one recent video posting on his website. “Let’s go to court, baby.”

Now, the years of litigation are coming to a head in separate proceedings five floors apart in federal court in Chicago.

In a scathing opinion earlier this year, U.S. District Judge Robert Gettleman, who levied the multimillion-dollar fine against Trudeau, said the Federal Trade Commission had presented convincing evidence that the onetime infomercial king was “living much more like a prince than the pauper he professes to be.”

According to the judge, Trudeau lived in an expensive mansion in suburban Chicago with two chefs and a butler, and credit card receipts from one four-month period in late 2012 showed he spent more than $100,000 on home furnishings, $16,000 on clothes and a cool grand on fine cigars.

Gettleman ordered Trudeau to comply with sweeping FTC subpoenas and “produce evidence of poverty” or risk being jailed for civil contempt. Over the last few months, the judge heard testimony from lawyers and others whom the FTC alleges helped Trudeau hide his assets. Trudeau took the stand but invoked his Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination on every question about his assets, records show. Gettleman could rule later this month on an FTC request to jail Trudeau for failing to pay the $37.6 million fine.

Meanwhile, Trudeau also faces a separate criminal contempt charge before U.S. District Judge Ronald Guzman that potentially could land him in prison for years. A jury trial is scheduled for late next month to determine whether Trudeau violated a decade-old consent decree in which he promised not to do any more misleading infomercials.

The legal consequences for Trudeau appear to be building. This month, he nearly missed a seminar-planning session in Canada because prosecutors asked Guzman to force him to turn in his passports – he has dual U.S.-Italian citizenship – and post a bond.

At the hearing, Trudeau’s attorneys sought to convince Guzman that their client had significant ties to Illinois and didn’t pose a risk to flee. The seminars and speeches were his only way of eking out a living, they said.

(EDITORS: BEGIN OPTIONAL TRIM)

Referring to a confidential court report, Guzman wryly noted that Trudeau had recently lived in a lakeside home in Switzerland, had passports from Italy and the U.S., and is married to a Ukrainian citizen who’s been attending school and living in New York. When Trudeau’s attorney, Thomas Kirsch, suggested Trudeau’s wife went to school in New York but did not actually live there, Guzman’s eyes darted up from the report in front of him.

“How does she do this, metaphysically?” the judge asked. “It she there in spirit?”

(END OPTIONAL TRIM)

Ultimately, Trudeau was allowed to go to Winnipeg after his parents agreed to post their longtime Massachusetts home as collateral for his $200,000-plus bond. The judge ordered that Trudeau turn over his Italian passport in spite of earlier claims that it was locked in a biometric safe in Zurich that could be opened only with his fingerprint ID. On the scheduled day of the trip, the passport suddenly turned up.

“You still have all your fingers, Mr. Trudeau?” Guzman said.

—-

A charismatic motivational speaker, Trudeau, 50, is also a twice-convicted felon who did a two-year prison stint in the early 1990s for credit card fraud, records show.

After his release, Trudeau transformed himself into an author, growing his business from his base in suburban Chicago and touting products such as pain-relief adhesive tape and a cancer cure involving coral calcium. Soon his infomercials began popping up across the country, advertising solutions for everything from hair loss and weak memory to excessive levels of debt.

In 2004, the FTC imposed a consent decree banning Trudeau from misrepresenting the content of his hit book, “The Weight-Loss Cure ‘They’ Don’t Want You to Know About.” Regulators say he violated the order a few years later with infomercials claiming the book was filled with “easy” techniques when it actually called for prescription hormone injections, a month of colon hydrotherapy and a 500-calorie-per-day diet regimen.

At a contempt hearing in 2007, Gettleman was shown excerpts of the infomercials, including one in which the smooth-talking Trudeau described how he stayed trim despite a diet of prime rib, gravy, butter, hot fudge sundaes, wine and beer. “I can eat whatever I want now, anything, and as much as I want, any time I want. No restrictions now,” Trudeau said in the ad.

Gettleman found Trudeau in civil contempt and entered the $37.6 million judgment based on the number of “Weight-Loss Cure” books sold.

But Trudeau went on the offensive, using his Internet radio broadcast and website to urge supporters to email the judge with messages in support of Trudeau’s products. Hundreds of messages came pouring in, crashing Gettleman’s email account and bringing the normally mild-mannered judge to a boil.

In February 2010, Gettleman found Trudeau to be in criminal contempt and sentenced him to 30 days in jail. But that decision was overturned by the federal appeals court in Chicago, and Trudeau never spent a minute in custody.

In a recent interview, James Kohm, the associate director of enforcement for the FTC’s consumer protection bureau, said the idea all along has been to compensate the victims who paid for the weight-loss book. On his website, Trudeau has said his customers have never asked for a refund because they were happy with the product.

“Given what the book says, that seems highly unlikely,” Kohm said. “But they’re under no obligation to take their money back if they don’t want it.”

—-

Throughout the case, Trudeau has consistently claimed he has few assets and can’t pay the massive fine. On his website, Trudeau urges supporters to contribute to his legal defense fund, alleging that “forces in government have sought to silence and destroy” him. Lower-level donors are treated to free books. Those who contribute $2,500 or more get to dine with Trudeau.

In April, Trudeau filed for bankruptcy in Chicago, claiming $10 million to $50 million in both assets and liabilities and listing creditors that consisted mainly of companies the FTC claims he controls. Trudeau’s attorneys then tried to use the bankruptcy to put a halt to the contempt proceedings, arguing the bankruptcy trustee now controlled whatever assets Trudeau held.

But the bankruptcy was dismissed in June because Trudeau never filed the required paperwork listing his monthly income and expenditures, records show.

Kimball Anderson, another Trudeau attorney, declined comment on the details of the pending litigation but said Trudeau believes the multimillion-dollar fine is overblown and an infringement on his First Amendment right to free speech

“Mr. Trudeau never received $37 million (from the book sales), and he doesn’t have $37 million now,” Anderson said. “His position is that he’s not hiding any assets nor has the FTC shown that he is.”

Talk to us

> Give us your news tips.

> Send us a letter to the editor.

> More Herald contact information.

More in Local News

A firefighter stands in silence before a panel bearing the names of L. John Regelbrugge and Kris Regelbrugge during the ten-year remembrance of the Oso landslide on Friday, March 22, 2024, at the Oso Landslide Memorial in Oso, Washington. (Ryan Berry / The Herald)
‘Flood of emotions’ as Oso Landslide Memorial opens on 10th anniversary

Friends, family and first responders held a moment of silence at 10:37 a.m. at the new 2-acre memorial off Highway 530.

Julie Petersen poses for a photo with images of her sister Christina Jefferds and Jefferds’ grand daughter Sanoah Violet Huestis next to a memorial for Sanoah at her home on March 20, 2024 in Arlington, Washington. Peterson wears her sister’s favorite color and one of her bangles. (Annie Barker / The Herald)
‘It just all came down’: An oral history of the Oso mudslide

Ten years later, The Daily Herald spoke with dozens of people — first responders, family, survivors — touched by the deadliest slide in U.S. history.

Victims of the Oso mudslide on March 22, 2014. (Courtesy photos)
Remembering the 43 lives lost in the Oso mudslide

The slide wiped out a neighborhood along Highway 530 in 2014. “Even though you feel like you’re alone in your grief, you’re really not.”

Director Lucia Schmit, right, and Deputy Director Dara Salmon inside the Snohomish County Department of Emergency Management on Friday, March 8, 2024, in Everett, Washington. (Ryan Berry / The Herald)
How Oso slide changed local emergency response ‘on virtually every level’

“In a decade, we have just really, really advanced,” through hard-earned lessons applied to the pandemic, floods and opioids.

Ron and Gail Thompson at their home on Monday, March 4, 2024 in Oso, Washington. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)
In shadow of scarred Oso hillside, mudslide’s wounds still feel fresh

Locals reflected on living with grief and finding meaning in the wake of a catastrophe “nothing like you can ever imagine” in 2014.

Everett mall renderings from Brixton Capital. (Photo provided by the City of Everett)
Topgolf at the Everett Mall? Mayor’s hint still unconfirmed

After Cassie Franklin’s annual address, rumors circled about what “top” entertainment tenant could be landing at Everett Mall.

Everett
Everett man sentenced to 3 years of probation for mutilating animals

In 2022, neighbors reported Blayne Perez, 35, was shooting and torturing wildlife in north Everett.

Dorothy Crossman rides up on her bike to turn in her ballot  on Tuesday, Aug. 1, 2023 in Everett, Washington. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)
Everett leaders plan to ask voters for property tax increase

City officials will spend weeks hammering out details of a ballot measure, as Everett faces a $12.6 million deficit.

Starbucks employee Zach Gabelein outside of the Mill Creek location where he works on Friday, Feb. 23, 2024 in Mill Creek, Washington. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)
Mill Creek Starbucks votes 21-1 to form union

“We obviously are kind of on the high of that win,” store bargaining delegate Zach Gabelein said.

Lynnwood police respond to a collision on highway 99 at 176 street SW. (Photo provided by Lynnwood Police)
Police: Teen in stolen car flees cops, causes crash in Lynnwood

The crash blocked traffic for over an hour at 176th Street SW. The boy, 16, was arrested on felony warrants.

The view of Mountain Loop Mine out the window of a second floor classroom at Fairmount Elementary on Wednesday, Jan. 10, 2024 in Everett, Washington. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)
County: Everett mining yard violated order to halt work next to school

At least 10 reports accused OMA Construction of violating a stop-work order next to Fairmount Elementary. A judge will hear the case.

Imagine Children's Museum's incoming CEO, Elizabeth "Elee" Wood. (Photo provided by Imagine Children's Museum)
Imagine Children’s Museum in Everett to welcome new CEO

Nancy Johnson, who has led Imagine Children’s Museum in Everett for 25 years, will retire in June.

Support local journalism

If you value local news, make a gift now to support the trusted journalism you get in The Daily Herald. Donations processed in this system are not tax deductible.