Ponte Vedra Beach Man Indicted For Fraud Scheme Involving COVID-19 Personal Protective Equipment

Summary

A press release of the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Middle District of Florida dated Monday, May 20, 2024, announcing an indictment charging James Elliott Davis II, 35, of Ponte Vedra Beach, with 16 counts of bank fraud, 12 counts of wire fraud and 1 count of money laundering and theft of mail. It states that he faces up to 30 years in federal prison for each bank fraud count. According to the release, from March 2018 through 2022 he ran a purported medical supply company named Medisale, Inc. and induced individuals and businesses to invest over $7 million by falsely representing that it was making significant profits selling COVID-19 personal protective equipment under hospital contracts for N95 masks. It was announced by United States Attorney Roger B. Handberg.

Summary drafted by a model from the document's text below and checked by script against that text before publication. It is a navigation aid, not a reading of what the document proves. Where AI is used

Full text

Press Release

Ponte Vedra Beach Man Indicted For Fraud Scheme Involving COVID-19 Personal Protective Equipment

Monday, May 20, 2024

For Immediate Release

U.S. Attorney's Office, Middle District of Florida

Jacksonville, Florida – United States Attorney Roger B. Handberg announces the return of an indictment charging James Elliott Davis II (35, Ponte Vedra Beach) with 16 counts of bank fraud, 12 counts of wire fraud, and 1 count of money laundering and theft of mail. If convicted, Davis faces up to 30 years in federal prison for each count of bank fraud, up to 20 years in prison for each count of wire fraud, up to 10 years in prison for the money laundering count, up to 5 years’ imprisonment on the theft of mail count, and payment of restitution to the victims he defrauded.

According to court documents, from March 2018 through 2022, Davis ran a purported medical supply company named Medisale, Inc. By using false representations, Davis enticed individuals and business entities to invest over $7 million in Medisale. He falsely represented to victim-investors that Medisale was making significant profits on the sale of COVID-19 Personal Protective Equipment (PPE). He claimed to have contact with CEOs at various hospitals and that Medisale had contracts with hospitals to sell large volumes of N95 masks and other PPE. As part of his sale’s pitch, Davis showed bank statement with large balances, claiming the money was from the sale of PPE.

In reality, Medisale had no such contracts and had no true revenue from the sale of PPE. Davis kited checks and conducted fraudulent ACH/wire transfers between multiple financial institutions to artificially inflate the apparent balances on his bank accounts. Utilizing victim-investor money, Davis paid off previous debts, paid other investors purported profits from the sale of PPE, and paid for personal expenses. This included Davis using victim-investor money to purchase a membership at a luxury club in Ponte Vedra Beach and spending more than $27,000 on custom clothing.

An indictment is merely a formal charge that a defendant has committed one or more violations of federal criminal law, and every defendant is presumed innocent unless, and until, proven guilty.

This case was investigated by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation - Office of Inspector General, Florida Department of Law Enforcement, and the Internal Revenue Service – Criminal Investigation. It will be prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Kevin C. Frein.

Updated May 20, 2024

Topics

Coronavirus

Disaster Fraud

Financial Fraud

Component

USAO - Florida, Middle

File and source

File: usao-mdfl-pr-ponte-vedra-beach-man-indicted-fraud-scheme-involving-covid-19-personal-protective.html
Size: 101,974 bytes
SHA-256: 496ce9186cd091b36df4fb4b122150ee2dde165483c961a2ea14ef97a0640d2a
Our copy: usao-mdfl-pr-ponte-vedra-beach-man-indicted-fraud-scheme-involving-covid-19-personal-protective.html
Original: www.justice.gov