Suburban business man swindled more than $2.6 million out of hospitals seeking PPE: Feds

A suburban businessman allegedly swindled more than $2.6 million from two hospitals looking for personal protective equipment at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, federal prosecutors said.

Dennis W. Haggerty Jr., 44, president of At Diagnostics Inc., was charged with one count of wire fraud in federal court filings made public Tuesday.

Haggerty and two business partners formed At Diagnostics Inc. in March 2020 for the purpose of selling personal protective equipment, prosecutors said.

Two hospitals — identified in court records as Northwestern Memorial Healthcare and University of Iowa Medical Center — ordered a combined one million 3M N95 face masks from the company and paid more than $3 million as a deposit.

The companies paid the money into a bank account Haggerty claimed belonged to At Diagnostics Inc. but was actually a personal account, prosecutors said.

Haggerty allegedly used some of the money for personal purchases, including two Maserati automobiles and a Land Rover SUV, the complaint states.

He has failed to return the more than $2.6 million the hospitals paid for masks that were never delivered, according to the complaint.

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