LOS ANGELES (CNS) - A man who allegedly sought financing to mass produce an unproven pill he said would prevent and cure the coronavirus is due in federal court in Los Angeles today
Keith Lawrence Middlebrook, 53, was arrested Wednesday while delivering the pills to an undercover FBI agent posing as an investor, according to Thom Mrozek, director of media relations for the U.S. Attorney's Office.
Middlebrook allegedly had previously told the agent that a $300,000 investment would yield $30 million in returns.
“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,” Mrozek said.
“Mr. Johnson confirmed to investigators that he knew nothing about Middlebrook's company.”
Middlebrook allegedly wrote to a cooperating witness in the investigation, “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... Investors who come in at ground level say $1M will parachute with $200M - $300M.”
More than two million people watched Middlebrook's YouTube and Instagram videos, where authorities say he falsely claimed to have developed a COVID-19 prevention pill and a cure for those already infected, Mrozek said.
In a video posted to his Instagram account, Middlebrook said that because of the pill, he could walk into Staples Center filled with infected people and not contract the virus.
Middlebrook is charged with one felony count of attempted wire fraud, which carries a statutory maximum penalty of 20 years in federal prison, according to Mrozek. He is scheduled to appear in United States District Court in downtown Los Angeles Thursday afternoon.
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