At Least 2 Million Have Seen YouTube and Instagram Videos
that Falsely Claim He Developed Coronavirus Prevention Pill and Injectable Cure
for Those Infected
LOS ANGELES –
Special agents with the FBI this evening arrested a Southern California man on
a federal fraud charge alleging he solicited investments in a company he
claimed would be used to market pills that would prevent coronavirus infections
and an injectable cure for those already suffering from COVID-19.
Keith
Lawrence Middlebrook, 53 – who is associated with several addresses, including
residences in Westwood, Newport Beach and Murrieta – was arrested pursuant to a
criminal complaint filed late this afternoon in United States District Court in
Los Angeles. The complaint charges Middlebrook with one count of attempted wire
fraud, a felony offense that carries a statutory maximum penalty of 20 years in
federal prison.
The complaint
alleges that Middlebrook claimed to have personally developed a “patent-pending
cure” and a treatment that prevents coronavirus infection, even though every
major health authority has warned that there is no specific antiviral treatment
for COVID-19 and no vaccine to prevent coronavirus infection.
Middlebrook
was arrested during a meeting in which he delivered pills – purportedly the
treatment that prevents coronavirus infection – to an undercover agent who was
posing as an investor.
Middlebrook
fraudulently solicited funds with promises of massive profits for a company he
called Quantum Prevention CV Inc. (QP20), and he falsely claimed to at least
one potential investor that Earvin “Magic” Johnson was a member of the board of
directors, according to the affidavit in support of the complaint. Mr. Johnson
confirmed to investigators that he knew nothing about Middlebrook’s company.
QP20,
according to Middlebrook, would mass produce the pills he claimed would prevent
COVID-19. Upon receipt of investor funds, Middlebrook would issue shares in
both QP20 and Quantum Cure CV 2020 (QC20), another alleged corporation
Middlebrook claimed would market the serum that could cure COVID-19 patients
within two to three days, the complaint alleges.
In
communications with a cooperating witness, Middlebrook said, “I have Developed
the Cure for the CoronaVirus COVID-19…*LA Patient tested Positive for
CoronaVirus got up and walked out 51 hours after my Injection,” according to
the affidavit. In the same text message, Middlebrook also wrote, “Investors who
come in at ground level say $1M will parachute with $200M - $300M…Conservative
Minimum.”
“During these
difficult days, scams like this are using blatant lies to prey upon our fears
and weaknesses,” said United States Attorney Nick Hanna. “While this may be the
first federal criminal case in the nation stemming from the pandemic, it
certainly will not be the last. I again am urging everyone to be extremely wary
of outlandish medical claims and false promises of immense profits. And to
those who perpetrate these schemes, know that federal authorities are out in
force to protect all Americans, and we will move aggressively against anyone
seeking to cheat the public during this critical time.”
“There’s a
particular opportunistic cruelty in seeking to profit based on the fear and
helplessness of others,” said Paul Delacourt, the Assistant Director in Charge
of the FBI’s Los Angeles Field Office. “As the country reacts to the current
crisis, and while many suffer from losing a loved one or losing their
livelihood, the last thing Americans need are con-artists who hawk miracle
cures they know are not tested, guaranteed, nor approved. The FBI is using a
variety of tools to identify anyone who exploits the current crisis through
investment frauds or a variety of cyber schemes – and is proactively warning
investors to thoroughly research any salesperson or any product claiming to
save lives, before losing their money, or creating false hope.”
Middlebrook
will be held in federal custody until his initial court appearance, which is
expected to be Thursday afternoon in United States District Court in downtown
Los Angeles.
In a video
posted eight days ago to his Instagram account, Middlebrook stated that he had
created the cure for COVID-19, and he showed viewers a syringe with a clear
liquid and described how his cure worked, according to the affidavit.
Accompanying the video is text that reads, in part:
Yes I have Developed the Cure for the CoronaVirus COVID-19.
After 6 Weeks of Intense Focus and Development (and very little sleep). I am
currently going into Mass Production. … The CDC, WHO and Mainstream Media have
created a Pandemonium environment. To answer this (just because it’s what I do)
I have created a CoronaVirus Prevention Pill” (After 3 Days of taking it the
person is Immune to the Virus and STAYS immune as long as they continue taking
it once a day it the morning) and also the COVID-19 Formula Vaccine Cure to
Satisfy the Physiological and Phycological Need at large.
The affidavit states that as of March 24 the video had been
viewed more than 633,000 times.
In another
Instagram video that was viewed more than 1 million times over approximately
three days, Middlebrook shows a pill he says prevents him from contracting
COVID-19 and “states that if he took the pill and walked into the Staples
Center filled with COVID-19 positive individuals, he could not contract the
virus,” according to the criminal complaint.
The affidavit
focuses on communications – both written and over the phone – between
Middlebrook and two people he thought were potential investors, the cooperating
witness and an undercover FBI agent. Middlebrook made a series of claims and
promises to the undercover agent, including guaranteeing that a $300,000
investment would yield $30 million, a promise that was secured “by a current
$10 billion offer from an unnamed buyer in Dubai,” according to the affidavit.
A criminal
complaint contains allegations that a defendant has committed a crime. Every
defendant is presumed innocent until and unless proven guilty beyond a
reasonable doubt.
The ongoing
investigation in this matter is being conducted by the FBI.
This case is
being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorneys Valerie Makarewicz and
James Hughes of the Major Frauds Section.
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