The police in England have issued an arrest warrant for Nigerian-born Genevieve Flight after she was found guilty of selling a fake ‘brain tonic’ online, claiming it could cure Alzheimer’s, cancer and other illnesses.
Flight – who is believed to have fled England to Nigeria – was tried in absentia by Gloucester Crown Court.
She had denied 12 charges of making misleading written representations on social media and her centre’s website that her product is a holistic cure for several diseases.
The court heard Flight, a director of the Shambhallah Healing Center registered at an address in Quedgeley, Gloucester, claimed there was not a condition or illness without a cure.
Flight was found guilty by jury of a total of 12 charges related to misleading practice.
She was convicted of six charges of falsely claiming a product can cure illness, and six of engaging in a misleading practice.
The charges related to claims made on her website and social media about being able to treat diseases including cancer, Alzheimer’s and Huntington’s disease.
Prosecutors told the jury that Gloucestershire Trading Standards was contacted by a cancer survivor who had noticed Flight had been messaging patients in a private Facebook group, suggesting they use her treatment, a “herbal tonic”.
Her targets were described as vulnerable people with incurable, degenerative conditions who may well jump at any opportunity that offers hope.
The court heard that in police interviews that Flight could not provide any evidence that she had cured anybody, despite saying she had helped many people.
Judge, Recorder James Waddington QC, ruled the trial could go ahead in the defendant’s absence because he was satisfied she was aware of it.
He said she was believed to be in Nigeria and a warrant for her arrest had been issued.
Sentencing will take place once she is apprehended.
Flight, who also sells reusable Sheba menstrual cups which she promotes as alternative to tampons, has been posting pictures from southeast Nigeria on Instagram.
