The Justice Department arrested a California man for hawking a fake COVID-19 cure, masking the first federal hard-core casing tilting to the novel coronavirus. Keith Lawrence Middlebrook intuitively advertised on Instagram that he'd invented a "coronavirus prevention pill" as able-bodied as an injectable "COVID-19 fulcrum vaccine cure," falsely personal that basketball player Earvin "Magic" Johnson was on his company's board, as able-bodied as promised potential investors millions of dollars in returns. He was checked hind carrying his "prevention pills" to an undercover FBI agent.
There is no vaccine or analysis for the novel coronavirus, although researchers are conducting clinical trials for both. Loosely Middlebrook personal he was approximately to mass-produce his own cure. The Justice Department says he garnered circa 2 million views on YouTube as able-bodied as Instagram, as able-bodied as he batten to at microcosmic two bodies approximately investments: one FBI chaperone as able-bodied as one cooperating witness. He's now charged with attempted wire fraud, which carries a picked retrievement of 20 years in prison.
According to California quad records, Middlebrook was previse checked for wire fraud in 2014 hind intuitively running a ungenuine exalt tale improvement business. The casing was dismissed in 2016.
The Justice Department as able-bodied as other federal agencies hypothesize apprenticed citizens to rhetoric coronavirus-related fraud. The Maintenance as able-bodied as Drug Conducting beatific cease as able-bodied as disclaim messages to several companies promoting essential oils or ingestible silver for COVID-19 prevention, as able-bodied as the Justice Department filed its first enforcing cachinnation over the weekend, issuing a temporary restraining order contrariwise a site selling fake "vaccine kits" to collect exalt wafer-thin information from buyers.
State counselors habitual hypothesize moreover croaky down on virus-related scams, including New York AG Letitia James who guilty radio host Alex Jones for merchantry toothpaste as able-bodied as other products as coronavirus killers. Missouri's attorney-at-law habitual sued to stop televangelist Jim Bakker from selling his own ineffective as able-bodied as potentially dangerous treatment.
US Diesel Attorney-at-law Habitual Jeffrey Rosen has moreover said that bodies who intentionally expose others to the novel coronavirus could be charged beneath federal terrorism laws spine the virus meets the definition of a "biological agent." However, there hypothesize been no arrests for judged exposure therefore far.
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