by Alex Lloyd Gosss
US Attorney Jaqueline Romero announced that Jonathan Nyce, 73, defrauded pet owners by peddling a phoney drug that he claimed would cure cancer in their pets. Nyce knew this was a fraud yet still preyed on the emotions of pet owners. His scam netted almost a million dollars.
In perpetrating the scheme, Nyce created several companies, including “Canine Care,” “ACGT,” and “CAGT,” through which he purported to develop drugs intended to treat cancer in dogs. Beginning in 2012, using various websites for these companies, the defendant marketed these “cancer-curing” medications to desperate pet owners, using the drug names “Tumexal” and “Naturasone.” The websites made numerous false and fraudulent claims regarding the safety and efficacy of these supposed drugs, including that “Tumexal is effective against a wide variety of cancers,” and, “[i]n fact, Tumexal will almost always restore a cancer-stricken dog’s appetite, spirit and energy!” In reality, these drugs were nothing more than a collection of bulk ingredients from various sources, which the defendant blended together himself at a facility on Arcola Road in Collegeville.
A federal jury convicted Nyce of wire fraud and the interstate shipment of misbranded animal drugs in December 2022. The money wasted on Nyce’s concoctions could have been spent on legitimate medicine or surgeries for the animal. Nice, now 73 years old could very will die in federal prison.
“In shopping these worthless ‘drugs’ to desperate pet owners, Jonathan Nyce’s actions were both criminal and cruel,” said U.S. Attorney Romero. “He deliberately exploited people’s emotions, their love for their ailing dogs, purely for his own financial gain. Many people consider dogs members of their families, so they’re especially vulnerable to such schemes. For defrauding his victims and thumbing his nose at the FDA, justice demanded that Mr. Nyce be held accountable.”
“The FDA’s animal drug approval process ensures that our pets receive safe and effective products. Ignoring the FDA’s requirements and selling unapproved drugs to vulnerable U.S. consumers will not be tolerated,” said George A. Scavdis, Special Agent in Charge of the FDA Office of Criminal Investigations Metro Washington Field Office. “We will aggressively pursue and bring to justice those criminals who place profits above the health and safety of animal patients.”