TV Flim-Flam Man Kevin Trudeau Hiding Millions Overseas: Feds

Kevin Trudeau — the huckster who made his fortune selling lies in book form through TV infomercials — has been hiding millions of dollars in Swiss, Australian and Caribbean banks and businesses, according to emails between Trudeau and his lawyer obtained by the Federal Trade Commission.

And the lawyer has been helping Trudeau hide the loot, reports ABC Chicago after reviewing emails that detail the duo’s efforts to evade the federal government.

One such scheme would have money moving out of a Swiss business and into the hands of the 52-year-old infomercial king’s 26-year-old Ukrainian “mail-order bride.”

Trudeau, who lived in Oak Brook before his conviction landed him in an Alabama prison camp, was ordered in 2007 to pay $37 million to compensate customers who bought 850,000 copies of his diet book “The Weight-Loss Cure ‘They’ Don’t Want You to Know About”. His infomercials in 2006 and 2007 promised people they could eat whatever they wanted and lose weight, but the book called for a 500-calorie-a-day diet, colonics and injections of hormones found only in pregnant women and only available with a prescription.

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In April 2010, U.S. District Judge Robert Gettleman issued an order to show cause why Trudeau should not be held in criminal contempt of a Sept. 2, 2004, settlement in which Trudeau agreed not to directly or indirectly produce and broadcast any deceptive infomercials that misrepresented the contents of any book, including the weight-loss cure book.

In November 2013, Trudeau was found guilty of criminal contempt. He never paid up on the $37 million and told the judge he was flat broke. In January 2014, Trudeau told the judge he’d rather be “waterboarded” to prove he had no money than spend a day in prison.

In March 2014, Trudeau was sentenced to 3,650 days in federal prison.

Even behind bars, Trudeau remains a schemer, according to ABC Chicago, and he’s planning for the day he’s a free man. As much as $30 million is unaccounted for, according to prosecutors.

Reports ABC’s Eyewitness News team:

Eyewitness News has obtained copies of emails between Trudeau and his attorney Marc Lane, who has allegedly tried to help Trudeau hide millions.

One email from Trudeau tells his attorney: “We need to make sure the FTC does not steal the bond or put a lein (sic) on it to satisfy the 37 mil judgement. Start working out the details.”

The FTC has managed to get hold of dozens of emails between Lane and Trudeau, including one advising that “securing a bond and keeping it beyond the FTC’s reach will require careful planning.”

In another email, Lane suggests Trudeau “may wish to consider moving his Australian funds to a different bank which has no U.S. office among its parents, subsidiaries or affiliates.”

Lane has made $5 million off Trudeau as his lawyer. But the FTC has sent its evidence to the Illinois Attorney Registration and Disciplinary Commission, and Lane could face disbarment, or worse.

To date, government investigators have recovered about $8 million from Trudeau’s businesses. Over 14 years of scamming, Trudeau raked in $515 million from people who bought his lies, and he lived the most lavish of lifestyles. He wore $12,000 cuff links, rode in a six-figure Bentley, spent $12 million on salons and gym memberships and owned mansions in Illinois and California.

On Tuesday, the judge endorsed an FTC plan to send money to all 850,000 purchasers of the book, reports the Chicago Tribune. Formal approval could come in October.

To start with, jilted customers would get $11 checks.

After this long saga, however, the judge might want to consider Trudeau’s waterboarding idea.