Justice Department files first federal criminal charges for coronavirus fraud

The Justice Department late Wednesday filed the first federal criminal charges against a Los Angeles-based actor peddling a fake cure for the coronavirus on social media.

Keith Lawrence Middlebrook, 53, was charged with one count of wire fraud, a felony that carries a maximum penalty of 20 years in federal prison.

Mr. Middlebrook whose credits include small parts in Iron Man 3, Thor and Moneyball, according to the Internet Movie Database, allegedly claimed to have personally developed a “patent pending” cure for the coronavirus.

In videos posted to his 2.5 million Instagram followers, Mr. Middlebrook pitched small white pills and an unknown liquid that he claimed would offer immunity and a cure for the deadly virus, prosecutors said.

There is currently no cure or preventive vaccine for the coronavirus, according to the World Health Organization and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

“Not only did I make the cure, but this pill right here is the prevention,” Mr. Middlebrook said in one Instagram video that was viewed over 1 million times. “Meaning, if I walk into the Staples Center and everyone’s testing coronavirus positive, I can’t contract it. It’s impossible. … I have what makes you immune to the coronavirus.”

Mr. Middlebrook was arrested during a meeting at which he delivered pills to an undercover agent posing as an investor. At the time of his arrest, he had been seeking financing for his allegedly fraudulent cure.

In one text to a potential investor, Mr. Middlebrook said a Los Angeles man tested positive for coronavirus and “walked out 51 hours after my injection,” according to court records.

The text also promised investors who come in at roughly $1 million will earn back between $200 million and $300, bragging that was a “conservative minimum.”

He also bragged that Lakers Hall of Famer Magic Johnson was a member of his board of directors. Mr. Johnson said he didn’t know Mr. Middlebrook, according to court documents.

So far the Justice Department has only taken one other action to combat coronavirus fraud. On Sunday, the department won a restraining order to shut down a website selling a fake coronavirus cure.

The department did not file criminal charges in that case, however.

Nick Hanna, the U.S. Attorney for the Central District of California, says he expects the department to ramp up prosecution of alleged coronavirus fraudsters.

“During these difficult days, scams like this are using blatant lies to prey upon our fears and weaknesses,” he said. “While this may be the first federal criminal case in the nation stemming from the pandemic, it certainly will not be the last.

Attorney General William P. Barr has ordered U.S. Attorneys to prioritize coronavirus-related fraud cases.