A federal grand jury has indicted a Rochester, Ill., man, Chase Brown, 20, on fraud charges for allegedly operating a medical equipment reseller business that defrauded businesses from various states of more than $250,000. The indictment alleges Brown established a business known as Midwest Surgical, LLC, in May 2019, purportedly to engage in the purchase and resale of medical equipment. Brown allegedly made repeated false and fraudulent promises and representations to various persons and businesses throughout the country that he would buy or sell medical equipment that he had no intention or ability to sell or purchase. After falsely representing that he would sell medical equipment, Brown used the buyers’ credit card information for personal purchases for himself and one or more of his friends but never provided the equipment to the buyer, Similarly, after falsely representing to a seller that he would purchase medical equipment, Brown provided false or fraudulent payment information, knowing that he had no intention or ability to legitimately fund the purchases. As alleged in the indictment, Brown contacted and defrauded victim businesses in Pennsylvania, Illinois, Texas and Idaho, including in October 2019, when Brown entered into a consignment agreement with an Illinois hospital to liquidate its equipment. As part of the agreement, Brown was required to make two payments of $375,000 to the hospital. Although Brown received the equipment, the $375,000 check he provided bounced and he falsely represented that he submitted a separate $375,000 wire transfer that never occurred.
