Countywide : 3 Charged in Sale of Cure-All Vitamins

Three Los Angeles residents who allegedly posed as doctors selling cure-all vitamins to as many as 200 Ventura County residents were charged Tuesday with practicing medicine without a license, false advertising and conspiracy to defraud others.

Javier Gazca, 38; his wife, Libertad, 33, and Armando Morales, 46, operated a business known as Organizacion Americana Naturista out of a storefront on Oxnard Boulevard, from which they sent salespeople door-to-door in Oxnard and Santa Paula, authorities said.

Each was charged with one count of false advertising and conspiracy to defraud others of property and money, Deputy Dist. Atty. Marcia W. Strickland said. They were also charged with practicing medicine unlawfully and without a license, she said. They are scheduled to be arraigned next Tuesday.

Each could be sentenced to up to three years in County Jail and be fined $10,000.

Authorities said salespeople, working on behalf of Dr. Javier and Dr. Armando, sold an average of about $350 worth of pills to each victim, mostly elderly Latinos who speak little English. Sometimes Morales and the Gazcas would do the selling, authorities said.