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# Device CEO Pleads Guilty in Covid Test Scheme
- URL: https://www.fdaweb.com/device-ceo-pleads-guilty-in-covid-test-scheme/
- Published: 2023-12-11T12:00:00.000Z
- Updated: 2026-09-14T14:18:16.000Z
- Author: David McFarland
- Tags: Devices, #legacy-id-D5155962

Former Decision Diagnostics (DECN) CEO **Keith Berman** (Westlake Village, CA) has pleaded guilty to securities fraud, wire fraud, and obstruction of an official proceeding in connection with his 2020 scheme to defraud investors by falsely telling them FDA clearance was imminent for a blood-based Covid-19 test.

According to court documents, Berman and his medical device company were in “precarious financial condition” in the lead up to the Covid-19 pandemic, and he wrote in internal emails that he needed a new story to raise millions. “Faced with these financial difficulties, from February through December 2020, Berman engaged in a scheme to defraud investors by falsely claiming that DECN had developed a 15-second test to detect Covid-19 in a finger prick sample of blood,” a Justice Department [release](https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/biotech-ceo-pleads-guilty-covid-19-securities-fraud-scheme?ref=fdaweb.com) says. “Despite his claims to the investing public, Berman knew that no such test existed… In truth, Berman knew that his company was unwilling and unable to meet the clinical testing required by the FDA but concealed these material facts and misled investors.”

Berman is scheduled to be sentenced on 4/12/2024\. He faces a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison.