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Man busted in phony ‘Star Trek’ tricorder lawsuit

Brooklyn federal prosecutors have a accused an Illinois man going where no con artist has gone before — by peddling a bogus medical device that worked like a “Star Trek” tricorder.

Howard Leventhal, 56, allegedly convinced a Florida firm to fork over an $800,000 investment in the phony health detector.

He even called it the “McCoy” after the sci-fi show’s Dr. “Bones” McCoy, who famously used his tricorder to treat Capt. Kirk and the rest of the Enterprise crew.

A tricorder prop was featured in a 2006 “Star Trek” auction.David Lodge/FilmMagic

Leventhal claimed the device could instantly deliver medical information to health professionals.

Prosecutors, however, used photon torpedoes to shoot that assertion down.

“In reality, his scheme was pure science fiction, complete with phony documents and a fictional medical device,” said Brooklyn U.S. Attorney Loretta Lynch.

Officials also accused Leventhal of telling the investors at Paragon Financial Group that he had secured a contract with the Canadian government for the device.

“As part of his alternate reality, Leventhal impersonated Canadian government officials by creating phony government contracts,” Lynch said.

Leventhal’s scheme finally came back to earth after he tried to sell the device to a Brooklyn undercover agent.

The galactic grifter said that his company has already secured $18 million is sales for the year 2012.

Leventhal is slated for arraignment in Brooklyn next week.