Comments

You have commented 339 times on Rantburg.

Your Name

Your e-mail (optional)

Website (optional)

	My Original Nic Pic-a-Nic Sorry. Comments have been closed on this article.
Foto

Submit your comments on this article

-Lurid Crime Tales-

How a stockpile of 39 million masks was exposed as fake

2020-04-13

[LATimes] A powerful California union that claimed to have discovered 39 million masks for healthcare workers fighting the novel coronavirus was duped in an elaborate scam uncovered by FBI investigators, the U.S. attorney’s office said Friday.

U.S. Atty. Scott Brady of the Western District of Pennsylvania said FBI agents and prosecutors stumbled onto the arrangement while looking into whether they could intercept the masks for the Federal Emergency Management Agency under the Defense Production Act.

The federal government has been quietly seizing supplies across the country, taking the orders placed by hospitals and clinics and not publicly reporting where the products are being routed.

But in this case, there was no warehouse, and there were no masks to seize.

Brady said investigators tracked the tip back to a Pittsburgh businessman, who said he had been working with the union to secure millions of masks, some of which were purported to be sitting in a Georgia warehouse. Brady said the businessman had been using WhatsApp to connect with a broker in Australia and a supplier in Kuwait, who are both now the target of a federal investigation.

Brady, the federal prosecutor, said the Pittsburgh businessman told investigators he was buying the masks at $3.50 each and turning a "slight profit" in the SEIU-led deal. The union said the masks were being purchased for $5 and that SEIU was not making any money.
How about anyone affiliated with SEIU?
It’s unclear whether the Pittsburgh middleman intended to pocket the entire $9 million profit.
Well, my goodness. Why am I thinking "60/40"?

Posted by:Anomalous Sources

#14 It’s SEIU, of course it’s got something crooked in it!

Posted by: NoMoreBS 2020-04-13 20:13

#13 Well, guess the whole deal really was right in the SEIU's wheelhouse.

Posted by: swksvolFF 2020-04-13 13:05

#12

Posted by: g(r)omgoru 2020-04-13 11:19

#11 Did Lori check with Rick Singer?

Posted by: Lex 2020-04-13 10:03

#10 I saw a news report on TV about it. Yes, it was Lori. Probably trying to make amends to society. She has been trying to coordinate getting stashes of PPE into medical hands. She said one thing that has been frustrating is that often these stockpiles she unearths turns out to not exist. I figured after reading this article that there is all kinds of prearranged, ongoing fraud.

Posted by: gorb 2020-04-13 06:38

#9 Lori Loughlin?

Posted by: Frank G 2020-04-13 05:31

#8 Lori Loughlin was saying that a lot of these stockpiles were fake. Now it seems we may know why. Trump was right again. Find out who is doing the whining and start sniffing around.

Posted by: gorb 2020-04-13 03:09

#7 Brady said the businessman had been using WhatsApp to connect with a broker in Australia and a supplier in Kuwait

Posted by: g(r)omgoru 2020-04-13 02:16

#6 But in this case, there was no warehouse, and there were no masks to seize.

Posted by: Neville and Tenille3829 2020-04-13 02:04

#5 There were no masks. It was a scam.

Posted by: Neville and Tenille3829 2020-04-13 02:03

#4 What masks? At least "No money was exchanged in the attempts to finalize a deal, Brady said."

Posted by: Neville and Tenille3829 2020-04-13 02:00

#3 Hey, to me it's an example of business acumen. And you did get your masks.

Posted by: g(r)omgoru 2020-04-13 01:50

#2 pocket the entire $9 million profit.

Nah, the Feds get their 37%. Then state and local get their ounces of flesh.

Posted by: Neville and Tenille3829 2020-04-13 01:46

#1 When the story first broke that the Service Employees International Union had a huge stockpile of masks, there was something sketchy about it.
/Paul Harvey voice
Now we know the rest of the story.

Posted by: SteveS 2020-04-13 01:18

00:00