Man stole more than $2.4 million as part of fraudulent N95 mask scheme, feds say

A Washington D.C. man and his two companies must return over $2.4 million to victims he deceived as part of a fraudulent N95 mask scheme, a federal court judge ordered.

Alex St. James Railey Cisco had two corporations called US FED Group, LLC, and Trade-Backed Equity, LLC, that he pretended were authorized distributors of N95 masks, according to a news release from the U.S. Attorney’s Office in the Northern District of Iowa.

In October 2020, as cases of COVID-19 surged in the United States, Cisco contracted with a first-aid manufacturing company that wanted to buy one million 3M/N95 masks, according to the release.

The U.S. was in the midst of a shortage of personal protective equipment and N95 masks were in high demand, according to the news release.

The California-based first-aid company sent Cisco $2.4 million but never received the masks, according to the release.

“The court found Railey Cisco received the money even though he knew that he, US FED Group, LLC and Trade-Backed Equity, LLC were unable and would be unable to fulfill any order for 3M masks,” the news release says.

Another company also tried to purchase masks from Cisco in September 2020 for $250,000 but never received the products.

On Friday, May 13, U.S. District Court Judge C.J. Williams ordered Cisco to return the money to his victims and refrain from engaging in fraud or using his corporations to wire fraudulent money.

This story was originally published May 13, 2022 at 6:06 PM with the headline "Man stole more than $2.4 million as part of fraudulent N95 mask scheme, feds say."