Orange County man sentenced in COVID glove fraud scheme

An Orange County man was sentenced to more than seven years in federal prison Friday after admitting he duped three companies out of $3 million for protective gloves that were promised but never delivered during the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic.

In addition to the 87-month sentence, Christopher John Badsey, 63, of Lake Forest was ordered to pay $1.94 million in restitution after pleading guilty to four counts of wire fraud.

In June and July 2020 — when personal protective equipment such as masks, gloves and hand sanitizer were in short supply — Badsey claimed his Irvine-based company, First Defense International Security Services Corp., could provide millions of boxes of nitrile gloves, according to court documents.

Badsey entered into contracts to sell gloves to three other companies, court documents say, and required each to deposit around $1 million before they could inspect the promised goods.

Newspaper Ads Canyon Crest CA

The companies wired a total of $3.2 million to accounts Badsey, his company or an unnamed co-schemer controlled, according to court documents.

However, prosecutors say Badsey didn’t have the gloves, and concocted elaborate excuses whenever his clients inquired about delivery. His false stories included “absurd claims that government agents were blocking access to his warehouse,” prosecutors wrote in a sentencing memorandum.

Meanwhile, he used the deposit money to bankroll expensive purchases, authorities say, including a yacht, a pontoon boat, two Mercedes-Benz automobiles, two Ford pickup trucks, a recreation vehicle, a tractor, three ATVs and fishing equipment.

He has forfeited all titles from items purchased with the pilfered funds, along with $58,923 in cash.

Court documents show that Badsey — who previously pleaded guilty to three gun misdemeanors, including gross negligent discharge of a firearm, in November 2016 — had initially argued for a much leaner sentence: one year and one day, a three-year term of supervised release and a special assessment of $400.