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.
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 automobil.