PHOENIX – A Scottsdale man, Dale L. Hipes, has been charged with wire fraud and money laundering in connection with an alleged scheme to defraud the State of Texas during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Hipes is accused of falsely claiming to be a distributor of 3M face masks.
According to the Department of Justice (DOJ) complaint, Hipes, as CEO of BRI Supply, Inc., represented that he could procure 3M masks for Texas, falsely claiming to be a 3M authorized distributor and promised delivery in three days.
Hipes’ victim wired $16.65 million to him to purchase nine million masks, but Hipes never produced any. Instead, Hipes returned $12 million to the victim then ceased all communications and expended the remaining funds for personal use.
Law enforcement also seized four bank accounts, and a 2020 Kawasaki utility vehicle alleged to contain, or have been purchased with, proceeds traceable to the charged crimes, according to the DOJ.
“It’s truly reprehensible that someone would misrepresent themselves and promise to provide Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) during a pandemic then take millions of the fraudulently obtained money and use it for their own personal gain,” said Sean Kaul, Special Agent in Charge of the FBI Phoenix Field Office. “It is also not lost on us that this act is deliberately contrary to the actions of the philanthropist who fronted the money to the State of Texas in the first place. We want to thank 3M for their assistance and cooperation with this investigation as well as the United States Attorney’s Office, District of Arizona.”