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Amardeep Singh, 45, of Woodbury, was charged on Friday, April 24, for hoarding thousands of the much-needed goods at a warehouse in Brentwood and price-gouging customers at his store in Plainview, said Richard P. Donoghue, U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of New York.
According to the complaint filed in federal court in Central Islip, Singh — who operates a retail store selling sneakers and apparel — began accumulating the merchandise at his store and a nearby warehouse.
At the same time, he set aside a section of his store for so-called “COVID-19 Essentials,” which he then sold to the public at inflated prices, included N-95 respirators, disposable face masks, surgical masks, gloves, medical gowns, and disinfecting products.
Between March 25 and April 8, Singh allegedly received deliveries at his retail store and warehouse of 40 shipments of disposable face masks, 14 shipments of disposable surgical gowns, six shipments of hand sanitizer, and seven shipments of digital thermometers.
An example of Singh's gouging included selling masks purchased for seven cents each were resold for a $1 — a markup of approximately 1,328 percent.
During a search by postal inspectors of the store and warehouse, officials seized 23 pallets containing 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.
Citizens are asked to report COVID-19 fraud, hoarding, or price-gouging to the National Center for Disaster Fraud’s National Hotline at 866-720-5721, or e-mail: disaster@leo.gov.
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