O.C. Woman One of Two Arrested in Fraud Probe

After an undercover fraud investigation, two saleswomen have been arrested on suspicion of illegally marketing magnetic mattress pads to sick and elderly consumers in Simi Valley.

The arrests of Phyllis Hall, 51, and Nancy Milliken, 36, came moments after the women finished separate sales pitches last month touting the devices as a remedy for ailments ranging from heart disease to impotence.

Neither the state Department of Health Services nor the federal Food and Drug Administration has given magnetic mattress pads marketing approval.

Hall, an Orange County resident, was arrested Monday after speaking before two dozen Simi Valley seniors on the claimed benefits of mattress pads produced by Tennessee-based Magnetic Ideas Inc.

An investigator from the Los Angeles County Department of Consumer Affairs had previously warned Hall her sales pitches were illegal, Ventura County Chief Deputy Investigator Vinse Gilliam said.