110% MAGAZINE ~ winter 2014 (issue 16) | Page 15

Infomercial King, Kevin Trudeau, Jailed for Failing to Pay Fine Kevin Trudeau, the self-proclaimed “Infomercial King” who has allegedly made a fortune peddling information on television commercials selling diet books, was jailed this week in Chicago after failing to pay a former court judgment of $38 million for bilking the public with false claims. But the 50-year old resident of nearby Oak Brook was sprung from the federal lock-up within 24 hours and being given strict orders from the judge to either report his true earnings to the court or face prison again. Trudeau insists that he has been unable to pay even a small portion of the multi-million dollar fine he owes because he has no money. But after court officials discovered that he was recently spending on such high-priced luxuries as two haircuts at the Vidal Sassoon salon costing $320, almost $1,000 in cigars and the same amount on gourmet meats purchased online, a U.S. District judge ordered Trudeau to be locked up. While in jail, federal regulators met with Trudeau to attempt to discover just where he has placed much of the funds that have resulted from his infomercial sales pitches. Trudeau, however, insists he is having trouble remembering where in the world he chose to stash his ill-gotten earnings. 15