Thug With a JD Andrew Lehman’s Articles Triggered a Reaction from Indicted and Incarcerated Chris Badsey

I. INTRODUCTION

In the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, defendant Christopher John Badsey (“defendant”) falsely promised to sell millions of boxes of nitrile gloves – critical personal protective equipment that was in short supply worldwide – to buyers in the medical industry.

Through his company, defendant accepted over $3 million in deposits for those gloves from potential purchasers.

But by his own admission, defendant never had possession of or access to any such gloves, never delivered any such gloves, and never returned the deposits he received.

Instead, defendant and others used the deposit money to make expensive purchases, all while stringing would-be purchasers along with false stories, including absurd claims that government agents were blocking access to his warehouse of gloves.

Based on that conduct, in April 2023, defendant pled guilty to four counts of wire fraud in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 1343.

Dkts. 57, 61.

Earlier this year, defendant submitted a sentencing memorandum attaching several “letters of support” and a purported medical record that were determined to be forged.

Following that revelation, the United States Probation Office (“USPO”) filed a revised Presentence Report (“PSR”) on February 26, 2024.

Dkt. 84.

The USPO determined that the total applicable offense level in this case is 25 and that defendant’s criminal history is in category II, resulting in a guidelines range of 63 to 78 months.

Id. at 4.

The USPO recommends that the Court impose a high-end sentence of 78 months’ custody, followed by a three-year period of supervised release, and order a special assessment of $400.

Dkt. 83.

The USPO further recommends that defendant be ordered to pay restitution of $1,938,990 to three victims, as defendant agreed  to do in the plea agreement.

Dkt. 83; see also Dkt. 57 at 8.

The government agrees with the USPO’s calculations and its  recommended order of restitution.

The government respectfully recommends a slightly lower, mid-range sentence of 72 months’ custody, followed by a three-year term of supervised release, and believes this sentence is sufficient, but not greater than necessary, to achieve the goals of sentencing set forth in 18 U.S.C. § 3553(a).

LOS ANGELES – An Orange County man pleaded guilty today to defrauding companies who in mid-2020 paid for COVID-related medical protective equipment that was never delivered, causing more than $3 million in losses.

Christopher John Badsey, 62, of Lake Forest, pleaded guilty to four counts of wire fraud.

According to his plea agreement, in June and July of 2020, Badsey lied to three victim companies when he told them he had access to millions of boxes of nitrile gloves through his Irvine-based company, First Defense International Security Services Corp. (FDI). This type of personal protective equipment was in high demand and short supply during the early months of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Badsey agreed by contract to sell millions of boxes of gloves to each of the three companies.  But Badsey told the companies’ representatives that before they could inspect the gloves, which he claimed were stored in a warehouse in Los Angeles, the companies would be required to pay deposits of upwards of $1 million to FDI. In fact, Badsey did not have any gloves stored in any warehouse.

Badsey instructed the companies to wire the deposits to accounts controlled by himself, FDI or a co-schemer. Relying on Badsey’s false statements, the companies wired a total of $3,231,990 to these accounts.

As part of his plea agreement, Badsey has agreed to forfeit all title and interest in money or items derived from his crimes, including a yacht, a pontoon boat, two Mercedes-Benz automobiles, two Ford pickup trucks, an RV, a tractor, three ATVs, miscellaneous fishing equipment, and $58,923 in cash.

United States District Judge Josephine L. Staton scheduled a September 15 sentencing hearing, at which time Badsey will face a statutory maximum sentence of 20 years in federal prison for each wire fraud count.

The FBI investigated this matter.

Assistant United States Attorneys Melissa S. Rabbani and Kristin N. Spencer of the Santa Ana Branch Office are prosecuting this case.

Contact

Ciaran McEvoy
Public Information Officer
ciaran.mcevoy@usdoj.gov
(213) 894-4465