A Park City man, who claimed to have access to millions of N95 masks made by 3M and made allegedly fraudulent representations in an effort to sell them, is charged with wire fraud in an indictment unsealed Tuesday in Salt Lake City. John Anthony Taylor, 46, did not have the masks, was not an authorized representative of 3M, and attempted to sell the masks to an undercover FBI agent, charging documents allege. According to documents filed in court as a part of the case, in April 2020, the FBI in Houston, Texas, was contacted by an attorney representing a medical company concerned about an entity purporting to have access to one billion 3M N95 masks. At the time, publicly available information indicated the global production numbers of N95 masks was well below a billion a month. The FBI opened an investigation that ultimately resulted in an introduction to Taylor in Utah. According to charging documents, an undercover agent made contact with Taylor and asked for documents proving Taylor actually had the masks. Taylor sent an email with a fake purchase order from 3M. 3M has confirmed it has no relationship with Taylor.
