Feds believe woman allegedly posed as doctor, claiming to cure various illnesses like cancer

PHOENIX (AZFamily) — For two decades Mary Blakley branded herself as a holistic medical provider and according to several patients past and present, said she could detect and treat serious medical conditions. According to a federal indictment, Blakley and her husband, Fred, are charged with mail and wire fraud, accused of boasting a “proprietary smart chip technology” in their ultrasound machine, which allowed for a more thorough scan.

Prosecutors said the Blakley’s defrauded their patients, “extracting millions of dollars from their clients by means of false claims.” In court documents, prosecutors write that by “offering their ineffective pseudo therapies in lieu of conventional treatment... [they] deprive[d] their trusted clients of the opportunity for life and health.” They most recently worked in Lake Havasu City, Arizona.

The indictment lays out how the Blakley’s prescribed creams, vitamins, and veterinary medicines as treatments for medical conditions, including cancer and heart disease.

The couple was arrested in January.

Lake Havasu City Police confirmed they received three reports regarding the Blakley’s clinics. The first was filed by Mary’s estranged daughter, Charity Carson-Hawke in 2018.

Carson-Hawke said she reconnected with her mother and visited her office. She explained that she saw several certificates and diplomas on her walls and became concerned. She knew her mother didn’t train in Sweden or work at a cancer hospital in Texas. In part because the Blakley’s spent nearly five years in federal prison for manufacturing meth.

“I couldn’t believe she went to that extent to make up all these phony certificates and doctorate degrees,” Carson-Hawke said.

An officer investigated Carson-Hawke’s report, noting Mary wasn’t pretending to be a medical doctor, she had her PhD in physics.

“I tried to warn these people, I tried but I could only do so much,” Carson-Hawke said.

In a police report from 2023, an officer notes that Mary told him, “Her business is a research facility that all her patients sign a disclaimer,” it includes a clause stating, “her services are for informational purposes only.” She also reportedly told the officers its “a private ministerial association” and that patients sign a membership form. The language in that agreement restricts a patient from talking to police or “pursuing legal action against a fellow member” unless exposed as “a clear and present danger of substantive evil.”

In this case, Lake Havasu City Police said they consulted the Mohave County Attorney’s Office and referred the information to the State Attorney General’s Office.

‘Smart Chip’ Technology

According to federal investigators, the Blakley’s operated clinics across the Southwestern United States – from Arizona, to Colorado, Nevada, Utah, and California.

Prosecutors believe Mary Blakley offered “full body scans” at their clinics where they “claimed to detect, treat and cure various illnesses, including cancer” with an ultrasound machine. Blakley claimed the machine contained a “smart chip” technology. But the investigators said there was no such technology.

Federal investigators also said the Blakley’s would prescribe products for their patients that had not been approved by the Food and Drug Administration for human use.

Among those prescriptions were Aetheion cream, fenbendazole and ProArgi9+. Investigators allege the Blakley’s claimed the Aetheion cream, a product advertised as a cosmetic antioxidant moisturizer, would pull cancer cells out through the client’s skin. They also claimed an antiparasitic medication for veterinary animals could treat cancer.

Investigators also claimed the Blakley’s touted ProArgi9+, a dietary supplement, as a product to remove plaque from blood vessels, dissolve blood clots and prevent heart attacks.

In the indictment, they said Mary Blakley said the “medicine” could treat multiple sclerosis and diabetes. Investigators noted since the product is a dietary supplement it cannot be promoted to “treat, cure or prevent any disease.”

Families of former patients

Several families have come forward with concerns regarding the care their loved ones received from the Blakley’s.

“My mother had been seeing her since 2018,” Christina Jones said.

Christina Jones explained that her mother, Joann, went to Mary for a second opinion after a doctor recommended a biopsy for the lump in her throat. Christina Jones said her mother wanted a holistic treatment and kept going back.

“I had no reason not to believe... In June of 2023, she woke up one morning and she didn’t have a voice,” Christina Jones continued.

Christina Jones said things went downhill from there.

“At that point the cancer was so far gone that she ended up in Banner Hospital in Tucson where they did a complete thyroidectomy. She ended up with a tracheotomy,” she continued.

Joann was diagnosed by a doctor with stage 4 thyroid cancer. She was given less than a year to live.

Christina Jones said Mary denied that her mother had cancer.

Even after all that, Joann kept going to Mary. “Yep, she did,” Christina Jones explained.

Christina Jones said Mary sold her mother expensive creams and vitamins, which she used until she died in August.

“It was that second opinion that basically, I believe wholeheartedly that it took her life,” Christina Jones said.

Another man said he considered going to the Blakley’s. He asked us not to identify him.

“A really good friend was insisting I go see her,” he explained.

He said he wanted to do his due diligence, so he started researching Mary and her practice.

He explained that the red flags quickly appeared.

“The dates and times, the years don’t match up. I couldn’t even figure out how old she might be,” he said.

He said he informed his friend what he found, but she defended Mary’s work.

“Just doesn’t seem logical,” he said.

So why does he think his friend and others continue to go back?

“There are individuals in our world that can hold onto a perception so tightly they don’t allow conflicting information in,” he responded.

Credentials Questioned

Federal investigators said Mary Blakley’s numerous credentials were not as they appeared.

After receiving a complaint about Blakley, an officer with the Lake Havasu City Police Department went to one of her offices to speak with her. The officer also took photos of the certifications that were being displayed – including one for Gatesville University.

The degree was awarded in April 2013 to Blakley for a Doctor of Philosophy and had the university’s seal signatures from the dean and president, but the university itself has been under investigation for the diplomas it hands out.

The school was featured in an article on “How to Identify Diploma Mills” published by the American Association of Collegiate Registrars and Admissions Officers. The article said Gatesville University, the school where Blakley had a framed diploma in her clinic, was part of a company named Axact and had a “cadre of fake schools.”

In 2017, investigative journalists with the Canadian Broadcast Corporation, were able to purchase a PhD in Psychology from Gatesville University and a PhD from Almeda University in Biblical Counseling for $2,500.

In Arizona, Mary Blakley told the Lake Havasu City police officer she had a degree from Almeda University. He later noted that school was not recognized by the U.S. Department of Education or accrediting agencies in higher education.

AACRAO said the parent company of Gatesville and Almeda, Axact, had been investigated by numerous international agencies including the FBI, Pakistan Federal Investigation Agency, British Home Office and Interpol.

“Diploma mills and accreditation mills devalue earned degrees, confuse the public and defraud students,” Allen Ezell, a retired FBI agent wrote in an article for AACRAO.

Federal investigators also said Blakley’s credentials reported to be from the Karolinska Institute, a medical university in Stockholm, Sweden, were not real.

Arizona’s Family Investigates reached out to the Institute about Blakley’s claimed connections to the Institute. They said they had received requests to search for alleged degrees for Blakley in 2015, 2018 and 2023, “neither of these times have we found anything in our archives.”

The Institute said they had reached out to someone who would have been involved in Blakley’s work at the Institute and they had not heard of her.

Mary Blakley also claimed to have worked as a cancer specialist and researcher at what federal investigators called “a particular renowned cancer center located in Houston, Texas.”

Houston is home to the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, officials there searched the many aliases of Mary Blakley and said they “have no record of any physician training or practicing at MD Anderson with any of the names on the list.”

Support for Blakley and her work

Despite the charges, many in Lake Havasu City and beyond said they support the Blakley’s.

“She really cared about helping people to be honest about it,” said a masseuse at the London Bridge Wellness Center. She didn’t want to share her name but said Mary had worked with her for several years.

She said she received a scan from Mary and that it was legitimate and helpful. She said several patients have reached out and that they share that sentiment.

She explained that some don’t have health insurance, and that Mary provided a cost-effective way to see a medical provider.

“They’re not happy. I had quite a few crying on the phone,” she continued.

FBI seeks former patients

The FBI is still seeking people who may have seen Mary Blakley or visited one of her clinics in either Arizona, California, Colorado Nevada or Utah.

They list various last names Mary is accused to have used including:

• Blakely
• Blakleley
• Blakeley
• Blankley
• Cammer
• Davis
• Petry
• Shjlom
• Venable

She is also known to use other first names: Marye, Marye Yvonnea, Rosemary, Rose Mary, Rose, and Yvonne.

The FBI and U.S. Attorney’s Office in Pennsylvania said the clinics they believe were operated by the Blakleys included the names:

• Sonic Waves Research
• Living Well Ministry
• Living Well Health Club
• Living Well Warriors
• The Blakley Foundation
• Health Screenings 4 Life
• Health Scans 4 Life
• Health Screening 4 Life
• Health Screens 4 Life
• London Bridge Wellness Center

The FBI form includes questions such as:

• How many times was treatment provided by Blakley or her clinics?
• How did the patient communicate with Blakely or the clinic?

Investigators also ask what kind of procedure or tests the patient received by Blakley or the Blakley clinics.

If you or someone you know were a patient of Blakley or her clinics, you can submit your report to the FBI here.

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