Chicago-area man admits bilking hospitals seeking face masks
CHICAGO (AP) — A suburban Chicago businessman has admitted to swindling two hospitals that had sought coveted protective face masks in the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic. Dennis W. Haggerty Jr. of Burr Ridge pleaded guilty Tuesday in federal court in Chicago to wire fraud and money laundering charges. His sentencing is set for May 25. Prosecutors say Haggerty, the onetime president of the biotechnology company At Diagnostics Inc., cheated two large university hospitals in Chicago and Iowa City, Iowa. The hospitals allegedly ordered one million N95 face masks but Haggerty allegedly used some of the money for his personal benefit, including to buy two Maseratis.