A Minnesota woman has admitted to orchestrating a yearslong scheme built on false promises of AI cures.
Tammy Wadsworth, 63, pleaded guilty in U.S. District Court in Minneapolis to possession of counterfeit medical products, conceding that she marketed devices through the pain clinic she founded, reports The Minnesota Star Tribune.
Federal prosecutors agreed to drop the remaining counts in her indictment as part of a plea deal.
Court documents show that Wadsworth recruited franchise owners across the country beginning in 2017. She sold them devices and gels from a third-party vendor, then replaced the manufacturer’s labels with her own for the Pain, Injury and Brain Centers of America (PIBCOA).
Prosecutors say she pitched the products as “AI myoneurvascular therapy,” claiming the machines used artificial intelligence and low-voltage electricity to restore cells and cure a wide range of diseases. Conditions listed included incurable illnesses such as autism, Parkinson’s disease, and Alzheimer’s disease.
The treatments not only failed to heal patients, but often caused burns, scars, and nausea.
Says Acting US Attorney Joe Thompson,
“Wadsworth is a modern-day snake oil salesman.”
Federal filings say more than a dozen franchise operators were forced to shut down after investing between $60,000 and $250,000 each. Collectively, the scheme generated more than $2 million in fraud proceeds.
Thompson adds,
“Fraud that exploits families searching for answers is among the most shameless crimes we see. It is theft dressed up as innovation. Wadsworth now joins the long line of Minnesota fraudsters who will see federal justice.”
Investigators allege Wadsworth used some of the proceeds to purchase a home in Nevada and a Mercedes-Benz.
Her sentencing date has not yet been scheduled.
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