Feds: Woodbury man charged with hoarding and price-gouging of PPE

A Woodbury man was charged Friday with illegally hoarding and price gouging over 4 tons of personal protective equipment needed in the fight against the coronavirus, according to officials. 

The charge against Amardeep Singh, 45, of Woodbury, who also uses the name Bobby Singh and Bobby Sidana, was the first in the nation under the Defense Production Act, according to Eastern District United States Attorney Richard Donoghue.

The production acts bars the hoarding of and price-gouging on “critical material essential to the national defense.” Further, the act forbids the accumulation of such material “in excess of reasonable demands of people or businesses," and also, the sale of the material “in excess of prevailing market prices.”

Among the items that Singh had acquired and was selling in violation of the act were N-95 filtering respirators, disposable face masks, surgical masks, gloves, coveralls, medical gowns and clinical-grade sanitizing and disinfecting products, officials said.

“Singh’s amassing of critical personal protective equipment during a public health crisis and reselling it at huge markups places him squarely in the cross-hairs of law enforcement,” Donoghue said in a statement.”

Singh’s attorney Bradley Gerstman, in a telephone interview, said his client was being unfairly “tarred and feathered in the press,” for what was essentially a misdemeanor charge, carrying up to a year in prison, if convicted.

Gerstman said the government was unaware of his client’s actual costs, and many of his customers were policemen, doctors and nurses, who otherwise could not get protective equipment at their jobs. Gerstman also said he believed the production act was unconstitutionally vague as to what constitutes hoarding and price-gouging, and would not stand up to a court challenge.

Singh operates a warehouse on Crooked Hill Road in Brentwood, a retail store on Old Country Road in Plainview, and also sells online, according to officials.

The store normally specializes in the sale of sneakers and clothing, but has a section called “CO-VID Essentials,” according to a federal complaint.

"It is simply unconscionable for anyone to prey on consumers during a  unprecedented pandemic, especially as Nassau County leads the nation in confirmed coronavirus cases and fatalities outside of New York City," Nassau County Laura Curran said in a statement about Singh.

Singh’s business had been previously cited by Nassau County for selling outdated respirators and PPE equipment without proper labeling and instructions, and it was warned by the state attorney general about its pricing policies, the complaint said.

The federal case was investigated by the Postal Inspection Service.

Between March 25 and April 8, Singh’s business received 40 shipments of face masks weighing more than 1.6 tons, 14 shipments of disposal surgical gowns weighing more than 2.2 tons, six shipments of hand sanitizers weighing more than 1.8 tons, and seven shipments of digital thermometers weighing about 253 pounds, the complaint said.

An example of Singh’s price-gouging, officials said, was Singh’s sale of face masks that he paid seven cents for but sold for $1 — a markup of 1,328%.

In another example, officials said, Singh paid $8.50 for a 32-oz. bottle of hand sanitizer and sold it for $24.99 — a 194% markup.

In addition to retail sales, Singh also sold in bulk, the complaint said. In one example, Singh sold a senior citizens group 500 respirator face masks at $4.99 per unit, 185% above cost.

Singh is scheduled to be arraigned next week on a charge of violating the Defense Production Act.

By Robert E. Kessler

Robert.Kessler@newsday.com

Bob Kessler covers federal law, including law enforcement agencies such as the FBI, DEA, IRS and ATF, as well as the federal courts.