NEW YORK, Dec. 18 (UPI) -- An Illinois man who duped investors with his phony medical device like one used on TV's "Star Trek" is expected to plead guilty to fraud, court documents show.
Papers filed in U.S. District Court in New York said Howard Leventhal, 56, has agreed to waive his indictment on charges he defrauded a Florida financial group of $800,000, the Daily News reported Wednesday.
Leventhal, who also allegedly impersonated Canadian government officials, claimed an electric tablet device, called the McCoy Home Health Tablet after "Star Trek" doctor James McCoy, could "instantly and effectively" deliver patient data to doctors and healthcare providers.
The fictional McCoy's "tricorder" could retrieve medical information by aiming it at a patient.
Federal agents observed Leventhal carrying a tablet computer but do not believe a working device ever existed.
Leventhal was arrested in his Illinois home in October.
