GcMAF 'lieutenants' avoid prison

Saturday 23 March 2019

Two of David Noakes' 'lieutenants' within Immuno Biotech have been sentenced by Guernsey's Royal Court for their involvement in the illegal enterprise of distributing GcMAF - an unlicensed drug - around the world.

Both Peter Dawson-Ball, 64, and Samata McPane, 32, narrowly avoided being sent straight to Les Nicolles, and were instead given community service and suspended sentences.

Overall, Dawson-Ball faced three counts of money laundering - one which spanned a period of time and two for specific instances - and he was given a 180 hour community service order and a 15 month suspended prison sentence. McPane faced a single count of money laundering, and was given a nine month suspended sentence. Both of those sentences were suspended for two years. 

During Dawson-Ball's trial, he told the court Noakes (pictured) had him and the rest of the Immuno Biotech staff totally brainwashed. They allegedly believed the drug they were distributing was a supplement. 

Before the sentences were decided, the court heard from both defence advocates, Catherine Fooks on behalf of McPane and Mark Dunster on behalf of Dawson-Ball. Advocate Dunster urged the court to remember his client was more than the man they had seen in his trial, which lasted a week and resulted in a guilty verdict.

McPane however pleaded guilty to her single charge after she had been committed to the Royal Court. 

GcMAF was distributed by Immuno Biotech for years. It claimed to be a miracle cancer drug - many still to this day claim it worked for them, but it was never properly licensed. 

Both Dawson-Ball and McPane worked directly for David Noakes, as his financial controller and office manager respectively. Noakes himself was sentenced to 15 months in jail in the UK by Southwark Crown Court. He had made millions through selling GcMAF and Goleic, and much of the business infrastructure was facilitated by the two Guernsey defendants, who took directorship of companies around Europe and helped keep money flowing.

As a Latvian national, McPane fronted much of Immuno Biotech's work in Estonia and Latvia, while Dawson-Ball did the same in the Netherlands. While the court heard that they were both manipulated by Noakes' "evangelical belief" in his product, it also did not accept that their role could be underestimated. 

During his sentencing remarks, Judge Russell Finch, made sure to emphasise that had Noakes been sentenced in Guernsey, he would have been treated very differently, because it was an entirely different jurisdiction to the UK. That would have had to be taken into account in the sentencing of Dawson-Ball and McPane.

"You were both concerned in the illegal activity of David Noakes. Both defendants here played significant parts in the financial operation of [that], their role was essential to the running of this large scale scam," he said.

"Guernsey is a financial sector, and its reputation is of primary importance. We have a duty to protect that."

Concluding, he told the defendants: "We are not underplaying what you have done, do not ever do anything wrong again."

To read more about Dawson-Ball's trial, which took place in February, click here.