Hungarian man convicted for selling fraudulent anti-virus treatment

Photo: NAV

The District-Court of Csongrád County convicted a local man in the first instance for preparing and selling a drug said to be an antiviral remedy. The “medicine man” earned money by scamming clients with false and dangerous anti-virus concoction.

According to Index, the court found the 53 year-old-man guilty of a drug counterfeiting crime and sentenced him to two years in prison, later suspended for three years. The court ordered as well the confiscation of 1.172 million HUF against him.

The high school graduate man, without any criminal record, founded a company in Romania for the production and distribution of medications in August 2017. According to the indictment, on behalf of the company, he established a Hungarian webshop in December 2017, designating himself as the contact person.

The site advertised a solution containing sodium chloride, hydrochloric acid and citric acid, claimed to “kill malaria out of the body in 48 hours”, remove influenza, bacteria and viruses permanently and be suitable for preventing and treating various infections and diseases.

The scammer promoted his products on different social media interfaces as well as in numerous videos in which he explained the effects and the usage of the magic concoction.

The products were packed by the man himself in his apartment in Csongrád, for which the customers could pay firstly by cash on delivery, then online. Until the deletion of the website in July 2019, the man earned about 1.2 million forints from the solution.

The product marketed by the defendant, which he made widely available to users, counts as a medicine according to the law. However, the man was not licensed to market the drug.

The National Chief Medical Officer reported the case following a call from the WHO and a report from an individual to the National Center for Public Health. According to the WHO, the product is being marketed for the second time since 2010 and has experienced adverse effects in several countries, so placing the product on the market poses a risk to public health.

The National Institute of Pharmacy and Food Health also made a statement, emphasising that it is in fact a preparation with a similar effect to household cleaning supplies, such as bleach.

The defendant and his counsel filed an appeal against the verdict for mitigation and non-confiscation of property.