Criminal Information — United States v. Brian Sperber (N.D. Ga., Dkt. 1, May 28, 2024)

Summary

This criminal information in the Northern District of Georgia, Atlanta Division, charges Brian Sperber in Count One with conspiracy under 18 U.S.C. § 371 with Edmond Norkus, from about February 2020 until about March 2021, to carry out a scheme to defraud using interstate wire communications. It alleges that Sperber, whose company distributed personal protective equipment (PPE) for O&M Halyard, and Norkus used falsified invoices, emails and other documents to defraud prospective PPE purchasers out of more than $12 million, including a $3,144,960 wire from one victim. It says Sperber used over $5.3 million of another victim's funds to buy a waterfront mansion, then threatened O&M Halyard with a press release and filed a lawsuit against it. A forfeiture section seeks a money judgment.

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Case 1:24-cr-00179-MLB Document1 Filed 05/28/24 Page 1 of 12
FILED IN OPEN COURT
U.S.B.C. - Atlanta

MAY 28 2024

KEVIN P. WEIMER, Clerk

By i ae Clerk
IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
FOR THE NORTHERN DISTRICT OF GEORGIA
ATLANTA DIVISION

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA

é, Criminal Information

BRIAN SPERBER No. 1:24-CR-179-MLB

THE UNITED STATES ATTORNEY CHARGES THAT:

Count One
Conspiracy
(18 U.S.C. § 371)

1. Beginning in or about February 2020, and continuing until in or about
March 2021, the exact dates unknown, the defendant, BRIAN SPERBER, did
knowingly and willfully combine, conspire, confederate, agree, and have a tacit
understanding with Edmond Norkus to devise and intend to devise a scheme
and artifice to defraud, and to obtain money and property, by means of
materially false and fraudulent pretenses, representations, and promises, and by
the omission of material facts, and, in so doing, with the intent to defraud,
caused interstate wire communications to be made in furtherance of the scheme

and artifice to defraud, in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 1343.

Background

At all times relevant to this Criminal Information:

Relevant Entities
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2. O&M Halyard, Inc., (hereinafter “O&M Halyard”) a subsidiary of Owens &
Minor, Inc., was a Virginia corporation that maintained its principal place of
business in Alpharetta, Georgia, within the Northern District of Georgia. O&M
Halyard was a manufacturer and wholesale distributor of surgical and other
medical instruments, as well as healthcare and safety equipment, such as
personal protective equipment (“PPE”).

3. Dukal was a New York corporation that maintained its principal place of
business in Ronkonkoma, New York. Dukal was a medical supply and medical
product manufacturer of healthcare and safety equipment, such as PPE.

4. The defendant, BRIAN SPERBER, owned a healthcare distributor located in
Florida named Ark GBST that distributed PPE on behalf of O&M Halyard.
SPERBER also directly or indirectly controlled a number of other corporate
entities, including A Rose RE, Ark Medical Solutions, Noahs Rose, Now We R 4,
Roses Ark, and Secure Medical Products.

5. Edmond Norkus owned Champion Resources, a logistics company located
in Florida that provided logistical services for Ark GBST. Champion Resources
also procured PPE for customers largely through its relationship with SPERBER’s
various companies.

6. Victim A, which was located in New York, was a broker that imported and
exported a variety of goods both domestically and internationally. During the
COVID-19 pandemic, Victim A sought to procure PPE for hospital and medical

institutions.
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7. Victim B, which was located in Florida, was a pharmaceutical and medical
products wholesaler. During the COVID-19 pandemic, Victim B sought to
procure PPE for an international healthcare company which was facing a critical

shortage of N95 masks and other PPE during the early months of the pandemic.

Manner and Means

8. The defendant, BRIAN SPERBER, along with Edmond Norkus, engaged in
a scheme to defraud a PPE supplier as well as victims who sought to procure
PPE for hospital and medical institutions. Through a combination of falsified
invoices, emails, and other documents, SPERBER and Norkus defrauded
prospective PPE purchasers out of more than $12 million, much of which they
used for their own personal benefit, which included SPERBER’s purchase of a
waterfront mansion and Norkus’s purchase of a condominium in early 2020.
SPERBER and Norkus continued their scheme to defraud even though they were
well aware that hospital and medical institutions were desperate for PPE, such as
N95 masks, as the COVID-19 pandemic raged across the world. After the fraud
was uncovered, SPERBER responded by threatening the PPE supplier with a
press release falsely accusing the supplier of fraud and by continuing to lie about

his misuse of funds.

Sperber failed to pay O&M Halyard for previously shipped PPE

9. Almost as soon as he became an authorized O&M Halyard distributor in

September 2019, SPERBER failed to pay for previously shipped PPE. O&M
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Halyard employees repeatedly told SPERBER that he needed to pay down his
outstanding balance in order to remain an authorized distributor. For instance,
on December 28, 2019, an O&M Halyard employee sent SPERBER an email
telling him O&M Halyard needed $261,000 by the end of the year. By February
2020, O&M Halyard employees told SPERBER that they would no longer

distribute PPE through his company if he didn’t make timely payments.

Sperber and Norkus sent fabricated emails that convinced Victim A to wire
over $3 million

10. Despite being notified that they owed substantial sums of money to O&M
Halyard, SPERBER and Norkus sent fabricated O&M Halyard emails and
invoices to Victim A that falsely claimed O&M Halyard had an ample supply of
N95 masks that was ready to be shipped to SPERBER. As a result of these
misrepresentations, Victim A wired $3,144,960 to Champion Resources for the
purchase of N95 masks with an expected ship date of February 12, 2020. Norkus
used approximately $875,000 of those funds to purchase a condominium in
Lauderdale by the Sea, Florida. Norkus then wired $1,865,750 to SPERBER, who
used those funds to pay down an outstanding balance of over $1 million on
previous orders with O&M Halyard. However, SPERBER and Norkus led
Victim A to believe that the funds were being used to purchase new PPE for
Victim A. To that end, on February 10, 2020, Norkus sent a text message to
Victim A with a fabricated banking statement that falsely claimed Champion
Resources had wired nearly $3 million to O&M Halyard.

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11. By February 13, 2020, Victim A still had not received any PPE and asked
Norkus for a status update. In response, Norkus sent SPERBER an email stating,
“You need to call me bro I have it set up where we can talk while I’m In front
and your acting as Omh It’s perfect to get us next level.” By February 27, 2020,
Victim A still had not received its order of PPE. On that same day, Norkus
forwarded an email that SPERBER had purportedly received from O&M Halyard
stating, “I want you to understand your order is confirmed....” Shortly after
sending the email to Victim A, Norkus forwarded the email to SPERBER and

wrote, “What I had to send yesterday FYI.”

Sperber and Norkus sent fabricated emails that convinced Victim B to send
them over $13 million

12. In early 2020, Victim B entered into negotiations with SPERBER for the
purchase of millions of dollars’ worth of PPE, including N95 masks. SPERBER
and Norkus led Victim B to believe that SPERBER could acquire a substantial
amount of PPE from O&M Halyard and Dukal. However, SPERBER had by then
been notified by O&M Halyard employees that an order of that size was not
possible. Furthermore, Dukal representatives had never confirmed to SPERBER
that they could deliver the quantities of PPE that Victim B needed.

13. To convince Victim B into believing they had access to additional
quantities of PPE, Norkus displayed pallets of PPE in a warehouse. Victim B
thereafter gave a $2.8 million cashier’s check to an individual operating on behalf
of SPERBER. SPERBER delivered about $1 million worth of gloves to Victim B

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and promised that the difference would be made up in subsequent orders. On
March 31, 2020, Victim B sent an additional $8.25 million to SPERBER for the
purchase of N95 masks. Finally, on May 1, 2020, Victim B sent an additional $2.5
million to SPERBER for the purchase of N95 masks.

14. Despite receiving over $13 million from Victim B, and despite being
notified that that the hospital and medical institutions were in desperate need of
PPE as the COVID-19 pandemic worsened, SPERBER and Norkus sent a series of
false and misleading emails, invoices, and messages falsely suggesting that the
PPE from O&M Halyard was set to be delivered. For instance, on April 30, 2020,
Victim B requested an update on his/her order, to which SPERBER replied, “I
expect this to move asap.” Then, on May 1, 2020, Norkus —copying SPERBER —
forwarded an email to Victim B that had purportedly been sent from O&M
Halyard stating, “as discussed yesterday these 4 orders are now shipping.”
However, SPERBER and Norkus knew this email was fabricated and that O&M
Halyard had not shipped Victim B’s orders.

15. SPERBER and Norkus also sent fabricated Dukal documents and emails to
Victim B purportedly showing that Dukal had an ample supply of N95 masks
that was ready to ship. For instance, on May 1, 2020, Norkus —copying
SPERBER— forwarded an email to Victim B that was purportedly sent by Dukal
employee B.W. with the subject line “Dukal Corp International sales ARK GBST
May Allocation.” Norkus pressed Victim B on making payments for N95 masks.

Victim B immediately wired $2.5 million to SPERBER to pay for the Dukal N95
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masks. However, SPERBER and Norkus knew that the forwarded Dukal email
was fabricated. In fact, B.W.’s last day at Dukal was April 29, 2020 (two days
before the email had supposedly been sent). Additionally, in an email to a Dukal
representative on May 4, 2020, SPERBER acknowledged that B.W. “had
mentioned the lack of inventory in existence.” On May 25, 2020, Victim B
emailed SPERBER and asked about the status of the Dukal N95 masks.

SPERBER responded by forwarding a fabricated Dukal spreadsheet that falsely

listed N95 masks as being available.

Sperber used victims’ funds to pay down his debt to OGM Halyard

16. Throughout this timeframe, SPERBER misappropriated Victim A and
Victim B’s funds. At times, SPERBER used the victims’ funds to pay down his
outstanding balances with O&M Halyard that had been incurred prior to
February 2020. For instance, on April 13, 2020, SPERBER emailed an O&M
Halyard employee that “[w]e wired 50k today, I know we had a small invoice
coming due this week and we are also trying to expedite as much product as
possible to our markets so we are trying to pay down the line so we can continue
to work efficiently.” SPERBER failed to disclose that these funds had actually
come from a prospective PPE purchaser who was expecting a shipment of PPE.

17. On other occasions, SPERBER lied to O&M Halyard employees about
payments that he had not actually made. For instance, on June 10, 2020,

SPERBER emailed an O&M Halyard employee about a purported payment:

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Case 1:24-cr-00179-MLB Document1_ Filed 05/28/24 Page 8 of 12

“Good morning, it was debited from our acct late Monday and you should have
seen it yesterday. I will follow up today at noon or so with you and if it is not in,
I will head to the bank.” However, SPERBER had not made the payment that he
represented to O&M Halyard.

Sperber misused funds intended to be used to purchase PPE

18. Even though SPERBER and Norkus knew that their victims were
desperate for PPE as the COVID-19 pandemic worsened, SPERBER and Norkus
used a substantial portion of the victims’ funds for their own personal benefit.
From March 26 to May 4, 2020, SPERBER used over $5.3 million of Victim B’s
funds to purchase a waterfront mansion in Boca Raton, Florida. For his part,
Norkus used approximately $875,000 of Victim A’s funds to purchase a
condominium in Lauderdale by the Sea, Florida. And throughout the
conspiracy, SPERBER used Victim B’s funds for a variety of personal and
business expenditures, which included renting a private jet, purchasing jewelry,
and purchasing food at restaurants.

Sperber doubled down on his lies after his fraud is uncovered

19. By mid-2020, the fraud scheme had unraveled as victims realized that
SPERBER and Norkus had not used their money to procure PPE. Yet SPERBER
responded by threatening O&M Halyard and by continuing to lie to Victim B
about his misuse of funds.

20. Despite knowing that he had personally falsified O&M Halyard

documents and records, SPERBER directed his attorney to threaten O&M
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Halyard with the release of a press release entitled, “Trump-Backed Owens &
Minor Committed Criminal PPE Extortion and Fraud, Suit Alleges” if O&M
Halyard failed to pay SPERBER a grand total of $184,000,000. SPERBER’s
counsel sent lengthy documents to O&M Halyard’s counsel alleging that
SPERBER was the victim of an extortion scheme and was due substantial sums of
money as “restitution.” Notably, the materials sent by SPERBER’s counsel failed
to disclose that SPERBER had fabricated O&M Halyard invoices, emails, and
other documents.

21. Additionally, despite knowing that he had used a significant portion of
Victim B’s money to buy his waterfront mansion, SPERBER continued to lie to
Victim B about his misuse of funds. In December 2020, Victim B made a series of
recorded telephone calls with SPERBER. Victim B explicitly asked SPERBER if
his funds had been used to purchase the waterfront mansion. SPERBER claimed
that he had used money from the “first” deal (when Victim B had received a
partial order of gloves) to purchase the mansion. However, SPERBER adamantly
denied using any of the remaining funds to purchase the mansion. SPERBER
then and there knew this was false as he had used over $5.3 million of Victim B’s
funds to buy the mansion instead of to purchase PPE for the hospital and
medical institutions.

22. Even after learning he was under criminal investigation, SPERBER
initiated a lawsuit against O&M Halyard, falsely claiming —among other

things — that he was a victim and that he was entitled to $150,000,000 in damages.
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Notably, SPERBER’s lawsuit failed to disclose that he had falsified O&M Halyard
invoices, emails, and other documents, and that he had used Victim B’s funds to
purchase a waterfront mansion and make other personal expenses instead of
procuring PPE for hospital and medical institutions while the COVID-19
pandemic raged across the world.
Overt Acts

23. On or about the dates listed below, in furtherance of the conspiracy
described herein, and to effect the objects and purposes thereof, the defendant,
BRIAN SPERBER, committed various overt acts by transmitting the following

emails to O&M Halyard employees in the Northern District of Georgia:

Date (on or Interstate Wire
about)

May 26, 2020 On May 26, 2020, SPERBER sent an email to an
O&M Halyard employee stating,
“200k was initiated Friday to post to me. I
expect it in tomorrow and you will see it
following day. Next wk you can expect the
balance.”
May 28, 2020 On May 28, 2020, SPERBER sent an email to an
O&M Halyard employee stating, “I was told
by TD bank to expect it in tomorrow and I will
alert you of the outbound wire so you can
track it.”
June 2, 2020 On June 2, 2020, SPERBER sent an email to an
O&M Halyard employee stating, “I expected
funds to be wired to us on Friday and they
were and we are expecting them to post to us
tomorrow and we will be forwarding the
balance owed to Halyard.”

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June 10,2020 | OnJune 10, 2020, SPERBER sent an email to an
O&M Halyard employee stating, “Hi, it seems
there may have been an issue with our
etreasury acct, we are new to is since Covid
and rarely use it. If they can’t release funds
today I will deposit a cashiers check at Chase
as we have done in the past.”

All in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 371.
Forfeiture

24. The United States Attorney re-alleges and incorporates by reference the
factual allegations contained in paragraphs 1 through 23 of this Criminal
Information as if fully set forth herein.

25. Upon conviction of the offense alleged in Count One of the Criminal
Information, the defendant, BRIAN SPERBER, shall forfeit to the United States of
America, pursuant to Title 18, United States Code, Section 981(a)(1)(C) and Title
28, United States Code, Section 2461(c), any property, real or personal,
constituting, or derived from, proceeds traceable to the offense, including, but
not limited to, the following:

a. MONEY JUDGMENT: A sum of money in United States currency,
representing the amount of proceeds obtained as a result of the

offense alleged in Count One of the Criminal Information.
a. FUNDS: Cash/currency in lieu of real property located at 311 East
Key Palm Road, Boca Raton, Florida 33432 [Asset ID: 21-FBI-002719].
29. If, as a result of any act or omission of the defendant, any property subject

to forfeiture:

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(a) cannot be located upon the exercise of due diligence;

(b) has been transferred or sold to, or deposited with, a third party;
(c) has been placed beyond the jurisdiction of the Court;

(d) has been substantially diminished in value; or

(e) has been commingled with other property which cannot be

divided without difficulty;
the United States intends, pursuant to Title 21, United States Code, Section
853(p), as incorporated by Title 28, United States Code, Section 2461(c), to seek
forfeiture of any other property of said defendant up to the value of the

forfeitable property.

RYAN K. BUCHANAN
United States Attorney

ALANA R. BLACK
Assistant United States Attorney

Georgia Bar No. 785045

C. BROCK BROCKINGTON
Assistant United States Attorney

Georgia Bar No. 775084

600 U.S. Courthouse

75 Ted Turner Drive SW
Atlanta, GA 30303
404-581-6000; Fax: 404-581-6181


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