Does salesman's gasless engine run on snake oil?

New Jersey businessman Dennis Lee says he can make your car run on pickle juice, Listerine, Coke — pretty much any liquid.

He has a machine, he says, that can supply electricity to your home for free using magnets. His nontoxic Insect-a-shield bug repellent is drinkable, he claims.

Attorneys general in at least nine states say Lee's claims are fraudulent.

In nearly 20 years of pitching free electricity and other products, he has gained a reputation among regulators as one of the country's most persistent traveling salesmen.

He's not allowed to sell "products, services or business opportunities" to Washington residents, according to a 2001 court order. He's not even allowed to make scientific claims about his products without getting them substantiated by two independent scientists.

That's why he was very careful while putting on his demonstration show Tuesday night at the Seattle Public Library.

Dressed in a suit and tie and a red shirt, he blasted the government, touted his Christianity and claimed to be a volunteer for a company called Better World Alternatives.

Dennis Lee's past penalties


Attorneys general in Washington, Oregon, Vermont, New Mexico, Tennessee, Maine and Kentucky have gone to court to keep Dennis Lee from selling his products in their states. Other states have issued warnings. In Arkansas, a 2001 news release about Lee called his claims "preposterous." Here is a look at actions against him in Washington state:

October 1985: The Washington attorney general obtained a judgment against him for his "Solar Utility Network." He received a $25,000 suspended penalty, plus $7,000 in costs and attorneys' fees.

1999: The Department of Financial Institutions ordered Lee to stop selling unregistered securities in Washington.

Nov. 5, 2002: Lee was ordered to pay nearly $65,000 in state fines and legal fees and was prohibited from selling products, services or business opportunities. The same order required him to prove any scientific claims he makes.

Nov. 16, 2004: Because Lee didn't pay the $65,000 fine, the state agreed to a payment plan to pay a reduced fine of $25,000. He has been making his $500 monthly payments.

Source: Washington Office of the Attorney General

Then he described the company's products: a detergent-free, magnetic laundry system; paint that will melt the snow on your driveway and insulate your walls; a camera that can see through 6 feet of concrete and into people's bodies.

"I'm just here to show it to you," he told the audience of about 50 before firing up a lawn mower that produced no exhaust and running a car engine on a concoction of liquids that included steak sauce and an audience-member's latte.

Lee, who is on his nationwide tour, couldn't be reached for comment. He is scheduled to be in Portland on Friday night.

In their investigation in 2001, state attorneys determined that Lee's products — most notably the magnetic machine he says creates free electricity — can't possibly exist.

"It violates one of the basic laws of physics," said Assistant Attorney General Jack Zurlini Jr. "Bottom line was he was selling snake oil."

It's not clear whether Lee's Tuesday night pitch broke the terms of the order. Zurlini wouldn't say whether the state is investigating.

After learning Tuesday about Lee's history, the Seattle Public Library passed out copies of the order to those who attended the seminar. Lee blew it off.

"I have no idea why your illustrious attorney general wanted you to receive one of these," he said, waving the stapled paper.

He said the order didn't apply because he was speaking on behalf of Better World Alternatives, and the order applied to his company, United Community Services of America.

A letter on the Better World Alternatives Web site says United Community Services of America "recruited" Better World Alternatives (BWA) to market the products.

At the meeting, Lee said he wouldn't get any money if the audience chose to invest in his business.

"BWA — not me — BWA would like to offer each person in this room a job," he said.

J. Michael Hall, a Texas distributor for Lee's companies, said Lee's past doesn't surprise or worry him. He believes attorneys general try to stop Lee because they don't want his products to get out. Free electricity, cars that run without gasoline and other products would threaten major industries, he said.

"If he hadn't had any opposition, I'd be a whole lot more nervous," Hall said.

Hall wouldn't talk about how he met Lee, how big the company is, or what Lee's role is in Better World Alternatives. Hall says he uses many of the products.

The big products — free electricity, gasless engines — aren't on the market, but Hall believes it's just a matter of time.

"I don't believe that it's a problem of the technology," he said. "I believe that it's a problem of the politics."

It's rare to see a showman like Lee, Zurlini said, but his sales pitch is rooted in the same emotions as more common pitches for foreign lotteries.

"You have a person selling a dream, a promise, that just can't be kept and is just not real," Zurlini said. "It plays on people's desires."

Emily Heffter: 206-464-8246 or eheffter@seattletimes.com