James Elliott Davis II, COVID-19 PPE Fraud, Florida 2022

Jacksonville, Florida – United States Attorney Gregory W. Kehoe announced that James Elliott Davis, II (36, Ponte Vedra Beach) has pleaded guilty to bank fraud, wire fraud, money laundering, and theft of mail.

Davis faces up to 30 years in federal prison on the bank fraud count, up to 20 years in prison on the wire fraud count, up to 10 years in prison on the money laundering count, up to 5 years in prison on the theft of mail count, and payment of restitution to the victims he defrauded.

Davis has agreed to forfeit between $6.7 and $8.8 million, which are traceable to proceeds of the crimes he committed. No sentencing date has been set.

According to court documents, from March 2018 through 2022, Davis ran a purported medical supply company named Medisale Inc. Using false representations, Davis enticed individuals and business entities to invest large sums of money 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.

In convincing victim-investors to give him money, Davis showed fraudulent bank statements with large balances, claiming the money was from the sale of PPE.

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 is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Kevin C. Frein. The asset forfeiture is being handled by Assistant United States Attorney Jennifer M. Harrington.

Anyone with information about allegations of attempted fraud involving COVID-19 can report it by visiting the Justice Department’s National Center for Disaster Fraud (NCDF) via the NCDF Web Complaint Form at www.justice.gov/disaster-fraud/ncdf-disaster-complaint-form.

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