A New Zealand man who sold chlorine dioxide bleach as a “cure” for COVID-19 has been jailed after his company made over $100,000 (US$61,000) during the pandemic.
Roger Blake, who goes by the moniker “Roger William Living Man,” promoted and sold a product called Miracle Mineral Solution (MMS), composed of bleach and water.
Mr. Blake had a history of peddling the product, marketing it as a cure for cancer for which he received warnings from Medsafe, New Zealand’s Medicines, and Medical Devices Safety Authority in 2009, 2010, and 2011.
A website selling MMS is registered to a U.S.-based man named Mark Grenon, who set up the “Genesis II Church of Health and Healing” organisation.
Mr. Grenon, along with one of his three sons was sentenced in a Florida court to five years in prison in October 2023 for conspiring to defraud the government.
Prosecutors said Mr. Grenon had been based in Bogata, Columbia while hoping to avoid extradition.
The pair, along with Mr. Genon’s other two sons who received 12-year sentences, sold more than US$1 million of the MMS solution after claiming it was a miracle cure for COVID-19 and other diseases.
Mr, Blake was considered an associate of Mr. Grenon and had self-described himself as a Bishop within the Genesis II Church.
In 2017, Mr. Blake told New Zealand-based news organisation, Newsroom, that the Genesis II Church was “like a network where we all work together, the people over there might get an inquiry, they'll forward an email onto me and ask if I can help and that sort of thing, we all work together and it’s a really good structure.”
The Hamilton District Court was packed with supporters last week when Mr. Blake faced sentence on 28 charges brought by Medsafe under the Medicines Act. One of those includes obstructing a Ministry of Health officer after being found guilty by Judge Crowley on all charges at an earlier trial.
Crown prosecutor Paige Noorland said that Mr. Blake’s company banked at least $106,798.76 between December 2019 and mid-July 2020, an increase of over 265 percent, when compared with the previous six months.
Ms. Noorland said the offending came on the back of exploiting vulnerable people uninformed about treatment options in the early stages of the pandemic, calling it “scaremongering to the highest degree.”
At the sentencing hearing, Judge Crowley said “The way in which Mr. Blake seized upon the tragedy of the COVID pandemic as a money-making opportunity gives the offending more gravity, in my view.”
Mr. Blake argued his misunderstanding of court procedures during his trial had put him in “deep water.”
Judge Crowley said being found guilty was because Mr. Blake “wouldn’t stop dealing in new medicines,” before determining the MMS solution posed a risk to the public.
“Looking back would I have done things differently? Yes. Looking forward, will I do anything different? Yes. As a God-fearing man, I am remorseful for any inconvenience or damages ... and I do acknowledge and accept responsibility for all my actions,” said Mr. Blake.
In response to the charges, Mr. Blake was sentenced to 10 months and two weeks in prison. Additionally, he was ordered to pay half of Medsafe’s Court costs, amounting to $4,620.
Despite the sentence, Judge Crowley granted Mr. Blake leave to apply for home detention.
