Two charged in scam to sell masks to local investors, feds say
Protective face masks used to protect against the coronavirus. Credit: AFP via Getty Images / Mladen Antonov
Two California men were charged Monday with operating a scheme attempting to swindle two local investors — including a Long Island resident — out of almost $5 million by fraudulently selling them surgical masks as personal protective equipment against the coronavirus, officials and sources said.
The two, Donald Lee Allen, 62, of Riverside, and Manuel Revolorio, 37, of Rancho Cucamonga, either did not own the masks they said were for sale or did not have authorization to sell them, officials said.
As part of the scheme, Allen and Revolorio showed a representative for the investors, who was actually an undercover agent, shrink-wrapped cardboard cartons in their California office which they said contained the personal protective equipment. The cartons were actually empty, officials said. They also displayed a million real masks in a warehouse which they said they owned, but belonged to another party, officials said.
The would-be victims were not identified, but sources said one of them was a resident of Long Island.
Allen and Revolorio were arrested Monday in California on wire fraud charges by FBI agents. The two were scheduled for an initial appearance Monday in federal court in Los Angeles, but the case will be tried in federal court in Brooklyn, officials said. It could not be determined if they had attorneys Monday.
“[T]he defendants sought to take advantage of the urgent national need for lifesaving protective equipment through a fraudulent scheme to line their own pockets,” Eastern District U.S. Attorney Richard Donoghue said in a statement. “This office together with the [Justice] Department’s COVID-19 Hoarding and Price Gouging Task Force, is working tirelessly to ensure that scam artists who seek to capitalize on the worldwide pandemic will be brought to justice.”
Last week a Woodbury man, Amardeep Singh, 45, was charged in the Eastern District with illegally hoarding and price gouging on tons of personal protective equipment needed in the fight against the coronavirus, according to officials, who added that it was the first case in the nation brought under the Defense Production Act.
Singh's attorney said at the time his client had done nothing wrong, Newsday reported.
The California-based case began on March 26 when an unidentified co-conspirator contacted one of the investors about 40 million mask that could be purchased and resold for double or triple the price the investor would be charged, according to a complaint.
That potential investor had been contacted by the co-conspirator before on “numerous fraudulent investment proposals,” and contacted authorities, who began an investigation, the complaint said.
Bob Kessler covers federal law, including law enforcement agencies such as the FBI, DEA, IRS and ATF, as well as the federal courts.
