Nassau Store Hoarded PPE And Price-Gouged: Prosecutors

PLAINVIEW, NY — A Woodbury man is facing federal price-gouging charges after prosecutors said his Plainview store hoarded scarce personal protective equipment — such as hospital masks, gloves and gowns — and tried to sell them at a much higher price than what he paid for them.

Beginning in mid-March, a retail store operated by Amardeep Singh, who also goes by "Bobby Singh" and "Bobby Sidana," began accumulating PPE equipment at his store, WLC Warehouse Liquidation Center, and nearby warehouse in Brentwood, prosecutors said Friday. The store sells sneakers and clothes. Singh, 45, set aside part of the store for so-called "COVID-19 Essentials" that he sold to people at inflated prices, prosecutors said. Items included N-95 filtering face piece respirators, PPE face masks, PPE surgical masks, PPE face shields, PPE gloves, PPE coveralls, medical gowns and clinical-grade sanitizing and disinfecting products.

From March 25 to April 8, dozens of shipments were sent to the retail store and warehouse, including more than 1.6 tons of disposable face masks, over 2.2 tons of disposable surgical gowns, more than 1.8 tons of hand sanitizer and 253 pounds of digital thermometers. These and other items — some of which were officially designated scarce — were advertised and sold at prices far higher than market value, prosecutors said. Documents seized from the store showed three-ply disposable face masks that were bough for $0.07 were resold for $1 — a markup of roughly 1,328 percent, authorities said. Singh also completed bulk sales at inflated prices to groups serving vulnerable seniors and children battling the virus, the records showed.

On April 14, postal inspectors searched the store and warehouse, seizing more than 100,000 face masks, 10,000 surgical gowns, nearly 2,500 full-body isolation suits and more than 500,000 pairs of disposable gloves.

On March 18, President Donald Trump signed an executive order invoking the Defense Production Act, which made it a crime to acquire medical supplies and devices designated as scarce in order to hoard them or sell them at excessive prices. A criminal complaint was filed Friday in federal court in Central Islip charging Singh with violating the act by hoarding PPE at the warehouse during the pandemic and price-gouging customers at his retail store.

Laura Curran, the Nassau County executive, said in a statement that it was the first such charge in the nation. The Nassau County Department of Consumer Affairs has pursued and issued ongoing price-gouging violations to Singh "to the staggering tune of $183,650 since March 18th," she said. Among the violations: price-gouging hand sanitizer, disinfectant wipes and face masks that expired nine years ago, she said.

"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," Curran said. "Price gouging is and remains illegal and Nassau County will continue to exercise its authority to prosecute any businesses that engages in this exploitative practice."

If convicted, Singh faces up to a year in prison.

In reviews posted on Google, two users complained within the last week of overpriced masks and even bogus products.

One reviewer said: "Everything is overpriced. Blue mask pack of 50 for $50. It’s crazy during these hard times."

In response, the owner said everyone is selling the same face masks for $1.50 to $2.25 each and that "we have kept the same price even though our cost from the back end has gone up tremendously."

"We apologize that you felt it was overpriced, we hope to see you again for other shopping needs," the owner said.

A second reviewer complained the retailer was selling fake products.

"Foremost, consumers should know that Tide is NOT sold in 5-gallon buckets to consumers. The 5-gallon product is fake says Procter & Gamble Senior Communications Manager, Anne Candido. Consumers are getting mostly water according to P&G lab tests with cleaning results similar to just washing in water. Not to mention price gauging for hand sanitizer $9 for an 8oz bottle."

In response to that review, the owner rebutted saying Tide makes a 5-gallon bucket and has been "making them for years."

"Maybe you never bought one," the owner said. "That doesn't make them fake!"

The store said it spoke to Procter & Gamble and its distributor and verified the product was authentic.

"So before you post something publicly and try to bring down a small business think twice," the owner wrote.