Texas Developer Settles Fraud Claim With $375K

A San Antonio-area real estate firm has settled a federal lawsuit stemming from allegations of selling fake Covid-19 disinfectants during the height of the pandemic.

Shavano Park-based Lynd Company and its affiliate, Bio Supplies LLC, have paid $375,000 as part of the settlement agreement, the San Antonio Express-News reported.

Miami-based AHBP LLC, run by Alex Sapir, filed the lawsuit in 2022, seeking over $90 million in damages along with unspecified costs, attorneys’ fees, and interest.

Prior to the resolution, the case had been scheduled for a jury trial in December, after five delays. Lynd Company CEO Adam David Lynd had anticipated the lawsuit would be dismissed, but his firms settled for less than 0.5 percent of the claim just to get rid of the case.

Lynd called himself a “victim of the U.S. legal system.”

“You can sue anybody you want for anything you want,” Lynd said. “It just comes down to an economic decision for whether you want the issue to go away, or do you want to fight it and spend double or triple the amount of money to wind up with a dismissal?”

The saga dates back to 2020, when AHBP alleged that Bio Supplies had granted it an exclusive license to sell the disinfectant in Argentina. AHBP claimed the product was ineffective against the coronavirus and would not meet Argentine regulatory standards. In addition, AHBP accused Bio Supplies of providing falsified laboratory reports that exaggerated the product’s efficacy.

Despite Lynd Company’s attempts to dismiss the case, U.S. District Judge Xavier Rodriguez allowed AHBP to proceed with five out of its six claims. A confidential settlement was initially reached on April 4, with AHBP disclosing the $375,000 settlement amount in a May 13 court filing, accusing the defendants of missing the payment deadline, the outlet reported.

Lynd Company’s lawyer confirmed the payment was made on May 28.

—Quinn Donoghue