LOS ANGELES – An Orange County man and part-time actor was found guilty by a jury on Friday, May 10, 2024, of soliciting investors in companies that marketed what in fact were a bogus cure and treatment for COVID-19 during the pandemic’s early days.
Keith Lawrence Middlebrook, 56, of Huntington Beach, was found guilty of 11 counts of wire fraud. He remains free on $150,000 bond.
According to evidence presented at a three-day trial, in March 2020, Middlebrook solicited 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. Middlebrook called this so-called cure “QC20,” and he also marketed a purported COVID treatment, which he called “QP20.”
Middlebrook claimed to have personally developed a “patent-pending” cure and a treatment to prevent coronavirus infection. Middlebrook fraudulently solicited investments in various companies with a series of false promises. These fraudulent claims included miraculous results from the prevention product and the cure, risk-free and 100 percent guaranteed “enormous returns” on investments,” and that former Los Angeles Lakers point guard Earvin “Magic” Johnson was a director and officer of Middlebrook’s company. He induced victims to invest their money by promising them enormous returns.
To bolster these claims, defendant Middlebrook lied that a party in Dubai had offered to purchase Middlebrook’s companies for $10 billion, and this offer would secure the victim-investors’ investments in the companies. He also lied that he had secured funding from seven investors who had each already invested between $750,000 and $1 million.
The FBI arrested Middlebrook in this case in March 2020 after Middlebrook delivered pills – purportedly the treatment that prevents coronavirus infection – to an undercover agent who was posing as an investor.
United States District Judge Dale S. Fischer scheduled a September 9 sentencing hearing, at which time Middlebrook will face a statutory maximum sentence of 20 years in prison for each wire fraud count.
The FBI investigated this matter.
Assistant United States Attorneys Kenneth R. Carbajal and Joseph S. Guzman, both of the General Crimes Section, are prosecuting this case.
Thank you for bringing to our attention the emphasis placed on his fandom in the title. It is unfortunate that certain news organizations are unable to provide objective reporting without incorporating personal opinions.
trumps fault! Jail trump for this, not this guy.
How come you didn’t state the party affiliation of the guy who was arrested for fentanyl possession? Seems about as relevant as it is in this story.
Because he wasn’t an obvious Trumper.
What does Trump have to do with the story? Other than you couldn’t act like a journalist and maintain impartiality.
Trump is famed for recommending drinking bleach if you had COVID-19. And this suspect is a huge fan of Trump.
In reality, Middlebrook wore Trump like a cloak of invincibility, claiming that Trump was going to pardon him back in 2020. He also claimed to have visited Mar-a-Lago.