EXCLUSIVE: Specbid Owner Chris Cardillo Named in Lawsuit Alleging PPE Fraud and Breach of Contract

A company's elaborate scheme to defraud the government, sell and profit off of counterfeit products meant to stem the spread of Covid-19

Specbid founder and CEO, Chris Cardillo, has made a name for himself in the procurement business. A place for buyers and sellers in the development business to get what they need, but that changed when the entrepreneur decided to get in on the PPE action during the worldwide Covid-19 pandemic, and cash in.

Cardillo embarked on a venture with Andrew J. Albano (AJ), and Waqas Shah (Ali), that included big money, and apparently big fraud.

Scamming the government and vendors for millions of dollars.

Cardillo is currently being sued by his ex-business partner, Shah, for breach of contract, but what Shah says happened beforehand reveals a complex scheme to defraud both customers and vendors with fake products.

I reached out to Mr. Cardillo for comment but got a reply from his attorney, Kevin Carroll instead, who emailed me his client’s response to Shah’s complaint – essentially “pleading the fifth” on the questions asked.

Though he didn’t answer the questions, he did contradict himself when denying that Specbid had a relationship with CVS or AccessBio, which texts between Cardillo and Shah prove to the contrary.

Repeatedly denying that he was partnered with AJ and Shah.

Despite Cardillo’s insistence to the contrary, Shah was instrumental in facilitating business deals between Specbid and potential ventures, including a deal worth $10,000,000 from the Chinese manufacturers of Covid-19 antigen tests, AccessBio.

And that was just one deal.

Shah initiated and maintained a relationship with AccessBio CEO, Nick Choi, under the impression that he would profit from his partnership. Though Mr. Cardillo denies that Shah was a partner, his texts say otherwise.

And so do emails between Mr. Shah and Mr. Choi, as well as invoices.

Cardillo is being sued by Shah for breach of contract and to recoup the nearly $3,000,000 he took out of his pocket in refunds for PPE he unknowingly found out was counterfeit.

Specbid received nearly $50,000,000 from the state of Michigan in their efforts to mitigate the spread of the coronavirus through the issuance of PPE. But Chris Cardillo and his company had other plans for the money.

Importing and selling counterfeit products during peak pandemic times – a pandemic that took the lives of over a million people.

Gloves and N-95 masks that didn’t meet the standards led to refunds that Shah paid to vendors – a fraud so deep that even the Department of Homeland Security got involved.

Cardillo went so far as to brag to Shah about receiving – and intending to sell – fake PPE.

“100% authentic knockoffs,” Cardillo texted.

While the third partner, AJ, hasn’t been implicated in any wrongdoing, he is a party to the lawsuit. Named as a defendant, Cardillo admits to having paid Mr. Albano nearly half a million dollars.

This is on top of the approximate $3-4 million given to Jennifer Barrios, who admitted on audio I received that she was given luxury cars and owns a car club in the Hamptons with Mr. Cardillo that his partners weren’t aware of at the time.

A social media fan, Ms. Barrios bragged about her stable of six-figure vehicles given to her by Mr. Cardillo, which he admits himself to doing in text messages to Mr. Shah.

I reached out to Ms. Barrios, but am still awaiting a reply.

(That’s Chris Cardillo in the background)

According to text messages sent by Chris Cardillo, Ms. Barrios not only received expensive cars, but a home worth approximately $650,000. She’s currently being sued by Red Mountain Funding – a car company affiliated with Mr. Albano – for the return of a six-figure Maclaren.

When Mr. Shah reached out to Cardillo to get back what he’s owed, he was met with aggression and resistance. Claims that Shah was harassing his former partner and friend resulted in Cardillo getting a restraining order against Shah.

But it didn’t end there. Accusing Shah of stalking and harassing, Chris’ brother John made claims on social media that his brother’s ex-partner had deliberately intimidated the 14-year-old daughter of Mr. Cardillo.

At the time, Mr. Shah was with a district attorney, debunking the false claims which resulted in the charges being dropped. The TRO is still in effect until December but has no bearing on the validity of the claims of fraud.

Frustrated with not receiving the money he was promised – and owed– Shah took to Twitter to call out John Cardillo, who was deflecting from his brother’s crimes by smearing Shah’s name.

Using the TRO as “proof” that Mr. Shah isn’t to be believed. It didn’t take long before he offered to pay between $5-10 million if Shah would take down the tweet and refrain from mentioning the Cardillos or Specbid anymore.

I texted John for a statement, and his response was extreme, to say the least.

I asked about the settlement offer, and was accused of being a co-conspirator, trying to extort Mr. Cardillo, and that he reported me to law enforcement.

I kindly responded that his offer is on the record – he didn’t deny it.

He also left out monies he received as a result of Specbid’s business dealings.

According to text messages between Chris Cardillo and Mr. Shah, John Cardillo made approximately $400,000.

In September 2022, John was accused of pocketing $200,000 that was meant to be spent on body armor for Ukrainian police officers, The Daily Beast reported.

For the record, I had never met Mr. Shah before doing this story.

While the “Hongray” shipment was known to be fraudulent beforehand by Mr. Cardillo, Mr. Shah’s procurement from AccessBio was legitimate. Though the partnership was ultimately terminated, it’s an example of the fraud that existed during the coronavirus pandemic.

Money was made, the profit gained, and those trying to protect themselves from what at the time was a deadly virus didn’t receive the proper protection they needed.

All knowingly.

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