US father and son who claimed to create apparel that could detect Covid charged with fraud

Santos Rene Soto, 59, and Santos Moises Soto III, also known as Saints Soto, 39, were indicted by a federal grand jury on charges of fraud and conspiracy connected with their artificial-intelligence company, GoldenSpear LLC. — Image by fabrikasimf on Freepik

US federal prosecutors accused a San Francisco father and son on Oct 4 of defrauding investors out of millions of dollars with fabricated business promotions – including a claim that their company had designed apparel equipped with a device that could detect whether the wearer was infected with Covid-19.

Santos Rene Soto, 59, and Santos Moises Soto III, also known as Saints Soto, 39, were indicted by a federal grand jury on charges of fraud and conspiracy connected with their artificial-intelligence company, GoldenSpear LLC. The son was the company’s chief executive and his father was a board member, prosecutors said. Both appeared in federal court for an initial hearing Tuesday and remain free pending their next scheduled appearance Oct 12.