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For COVID Price Gouging on Instagram EDNY Files Complaint Against Bobby Singh

By Matthew Russell Lee, Patreon
BBC - Guardian UK - Honduras - The Source

SDNY COURTHOUSE, April 24 –    Amid the Coronavirus pandemic, the US Attorney for the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York has filed a complaint against Bobby Singh for hoarding for face masks, surgical gowns, hand sanitizer, PPE face shields and PPE coveralls, and selling them at inflated prices on, among other places, Instagram. From the April 24 complaint:

"On or about and between March 25, 2020 and April 14, 2020, both dates being  approximate and inclusive, within the Eastern District of New York and elsewhere, the  defendant AMARDEEP SINGH, also known as “Bobby Singh” and “Bobby Sidana,” did  knowingly and intentionally accumulate (i) in excess of the reasonable demands of business,  personal, and home consumption, and (ii) for the purpose of resale at prices in excess of  prevailing market prices, materials which had been designated by the President of the United  States as scarce materials and materials the supply of which would be threatened by such  accumulation, in violation of the Defense Production Act of 1950.   between March 25, 2020 and April 14, 2020, SINGH accumulated PPE and other  health and medical resources—some of which had been designated as scarce and threatened  materials by the Secretary of HHS—in quantities that far exceeded the reasonable demands  of SINGH’s retail business, which, until that point in time, had not dealt in such products.

 16. For example, in the approximately two weeks between March 25, 2020  and April 8, 2020, SINGH, by and through one or more of the Singh Entities, received or  attempted to receive the following deliveries at the Retail Premises and/or the Warehouse  Premises: (i) 40 shipments of disposable face masks, weighing more than 1.6 tons; (ii) 14  shipments of disposable surgical gowns, weighing more than 2.2 tons; (iii) six shipments of  hand sanitizer, weighing more than 1.8 tons; and (iv) seven shipments of digital  thermometers, weighing approximately 253 pounds. 

17. These and other items were advertised for sale at the Retail Premises.  Specifically, as depicted below, in addition to the items described above, the Retail Premises  offered for sale PPE face shields and PPE coveralls, i.e., full-body isolation suits, both of  which had been designated as scarce and threatened materials by the Secretary of HHS  During this time period, SINGH also marketed such items using social  media, including two Instagram accounts with the handles @nytentsale and @wlcmart (the  “Singh IG Accounts”). On April 7, 2020, the Singh IG Accounts published the following  image of SINGH wearing a PPE face shield, with a disposable face mask around his neck,  and posing behind numerous bottles of hand sanitizer and stacked canisters of disinfectant  wipes; a public comment by the @nytentsale account read, “Face Shields in stock now”

 On or about Ap1il 3, 2020, SINGH completed a sale of, among other  items, I 00 KN-95 respirator face masks at a per-unit cost of $4.99 (185% above  cost); 4,000 three-ply disposable face masks at a per-unit price of $1.00 (1,328%  above cost); ten boxes of disposable gloves at a price of$7.99 per-box (100% to  219% above cost); a 32-ounce bottle of "Perfect Purity'' brand hand sanitizer for  $24.99 ( 194% above cost); and four fashion masks at a per-w1it price of $18  (125% above cost) to Rewarding Environments for Adult Living, Inc.  WHEREFORE, your deponent respectfully requests that the defendant  AMARDEEP SINGH, also known as "Bobby Singh" and "Bobby Sidana," be dealt with  according to law. 

The case is US v. Singh, 20-mj-326 (EDNY). Inner City Press aims to continue to cover it, as it has other EDNY cases, like here.

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