Michael Andrew Scott, 38, of Fair Oaks, pleaded guilty to wire fraud, US Attorney Phillip A. Talbert announced. According to court documents, between June 2018 and June 2022, Scott devised a scheme to defraud investors in his company, Trusted Medical Partnership. Scott told investors that either he or Trusted Medical Partnership received purchase orders from various healthcare providers for medical devices but lacked the capital to fulfill the orders. Scott solicited and obtained loans from these investors, and, in exchange, promised them substantial returns in a relatively short time with zero risk. In reality, Scott’s representations to these prospective investors were false because Scott did not have purchase orders from healthcare providers. To some of his victims, Scott sent purchase orders that he had doctored or fabricated in order to convince them to lend money. The healthcare providers listed on these purported purchase orders confirmed that the orders were fake altogether or altered to reflect inflated amounts or other false information.
Further, Trusted Medical Partnership was not a legitimate business—while incorporated in the State of California, it conducted no legitimate business transactions, paid no taxes, submitted no wage or employment-related records, and had been suspended in December 2021, before Scott solicited investments on its behalf from some of his victims. Scott’s victims lent him money on the basis of his false statements, including the fraudulent purchase orders, but received little to no returns on their investments. Instead, Scott spent the money on gambling at several local casinos (sometimes the same day he received the victims’ money), personal expenses, or payments to other, prior investors in order to keep the scheme running. Collectively, Scott defrauded more than 10 victims of between $250,000 and $550,000.
