Saturday, January 18, 2025

One-Time 'Money Ball' Actor Turned Accused COVID Con Sentenced to Federal Prison Time; Actor Keith Middlebrook Sentenced for COVID-19 Fraud Scheme, and other C-Virus related stories

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One-Time 'Money Ball' Actor Turned Accused COVID Con Sentenced to Federal Prison Time
A Huntington Beach man who worked on blockbuster movies as a part-time actor was sentenced Monday to more than eight years in federal prison for soliciting investors in companies that marketed what, in fact, were bogus cures and treatments for COVID-19 during the pandemic’s early days.
Keith Lawrence Middlebrook, 57, was taken into custody Monday morning at his sentencing hearing in a Little Tokyo federal courtroom, months after he was found guilty at trial on 11 counts of wire fraud. He was also hit with a $25,000 fine.
Middlebrook's scheme was largely committed on his Instagram page, where he has 16.5 million followers and posts pro-Trump content alongside a series of photos of scantily-clad women. According to an FBI affidavit, the "Iron Man 2" actor began his COVID-19 cure scam when he "posted a series of videos and written statements on his Instagram page, in which he represented that he had developed a liquid that, when injected, would cure an individual who had contracted the COVID-19 virus within 24 hours," along with a pill, that, "when ingested, will prevent an individual from contracting the COVID-19 virus."
When he secured more than a million views, Middlebrook took his scam to the next level when he began soliciting potential investors in California, Nevada, New York, Texas, and Colorado via text messages, videos and statements posted on YouTube and Instagram about his purported cure for COVID-19, according to the FBI. Middlebrook called this so-called cure “QC20,” federal prosecutors say, and he also marketed a purported COVID treatment, which he called “QP20.” --->READ MORE HERE
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Actor Keith Middlebrook sentenced for COVID-19 fraud scheme:
A part-time actor and self-styled credit guru from Huntington Beach was sentenced Monday to eight years and two months behind bars for soliciting investments in companies that marketed what turned out to be fake cures and treatments for COVID-19 during the early days of the pandemic.
Keith Middlebrook, 57, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Dale S. Fischer, who also fined him $25,000 and ordered him immediately remanded to federal custody to begin serving his prison sentence, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office.
At the conclusion of a three-day trial in May 2024, a jury in downtown Los Angeles found Middlebrook guilty of 11 counts of wire fraud.
Evidence showed Middlebrook solicited investments in March 2020 from people in California, Nevada, New York, Texas and Colorado through various social media channels that touted an alleged "patent-pending" cure and a treatment for COVID-19 that he claimed to have developed. His so-called cure was dubbed "QC20" and the treatment was "QP20."
He would guarantee investors "enormous returns," and even claimed that Laker great Earvin "Magic" Johnson was a director at his company, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office. He also told investors that a person in Dubai was offering to buy his company for $10 billion, guaranteeing victims that they would get their money back, prosecutors said. --->READ MORE HERE
Follow links below to relevant/related stories and resources:

How Covid affected child brain tumour treatments

Girls suffered more learning loss than boys during the Covid-19 pandemic, new report finds

USA TODAY: Coronavirus Updates

WSJ: Coronavirus Live Updates

YAHOO NEWS: Coronavirus Live Updates

NEW YORK POST: Coronavirus The Latest

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