Defendants Sought More Than $4 Million for the Sale of
Surgical Masks
A criminal complaint was unsealed today in federal court in
Brooklyn charging Donald Allen and Manuel Revolorio with conspiracy to commit
wire fraud by seeking more than $4 million from a purported purchaser of
personal protective equipment (“PPE”) that the defendants did not own nor
otherwise have authorization to sell.
The defendants were arrested today in California, and their initial appearance
is scheduled for this afternoon before United States Magistrate Judge Pedro V.
Castillo in federal court in Los Angeles.
Richard P. Donoghue, United States Attorney for the Eastern
District of New York, Craig Carpenito, head of the Department of Justice’s
nationwide COVID-19 Hoarding and Price Gouging Task Force, William F. Sweeney,
Jr., Assistant Director-in-Charge, Federal Bureau of Investigation, New York
Field Office (FBI), and Jonathan D. Larsen, Special Agent-in-Charge, Internal
Revenue Service Criminal Investigation, New York Field Office (IRS-CI),
announced the charges.
According to court filings, as part of their fraudulent
scheme, Allen and Revolorio misrepresented the nature of their business
experience, their inventory of PPE and their right to resell PPE to purported
purchasers of PPE. For example, the
defendants created a website for their company, International Commerce and
Investment Group (ICIG), falsely representing that since 2014 ICIG had worked
closely with global traders, medical institutions and other companies to supply
PPE. The defendants also falsely claimed
that ICIG had contracts and agreements in place to resell millions of masks,
and attempted to pressure a potential purchaser to wire more than $4 million to
secure those masks. To reinforce their
claim to have large supplies of PPE available for sale, the defendants
displayed sealed and shrink-wrapped empty boxes at their office, which they
represented were filled with masks. The
defendants also displayed to an individual, posing as a representative of an
investor, more than one million masks that were owned by an unrelated third
party – unbeknownst to the defendants, the “representative” was actually a
federal law enforcement agent.
“As alleged in the complaint, the defendants sought to take
advantage of the urgent national need for life-saving personal protective
equipment through a fraudulent scheme designed to line their own pockets,”
stated United States Attorney Donoghue.
“This Office, together with the 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.” Mr. Donoghue expressed his grateful
appreciation to the United States Attorney’s Offices in New Jersey and the
Central District of California, and the Los Angeles Field Offices of the FBI
and IRS-CI for their invaluable assistance in this case.
“The defendants in this case allegedly created an elaborate
scam to defraud their victim, going as far as to wrap and label empty boxes and
try to pass them off as containing actual personal protective equipment,”
stated COVID-19 Hoarding and Price Gouging Task Force head Carpenito. “The
public should be on guard against these types of schemes, and the perpetrators
of them should know that the Department of Justice and its partners are working
all the time to disrupt their attempts to prey on the public.”
"The alleged behavior here is nothing short of a
betrayal of fellow citizens – both those serving on the front lines, and the
communities who need those essential workers able to safely serve,” stated FBI
Assistant Director-in-Charge Sweeney.
“At this critical time, Allen and Revolorio allegedly deceived potential
investors and purchasers into thinking they were running a legitimate business
with resell rights to more than three million of these highly sought-after
items. The FBI will continuously work to
identify and hold accountable any company, individual, or entity whose
intention it is to unlawfully take advantage of the current pandemic.”
“At a time when we should be coming together to help one
another and support our healthcare professionals who are working heroically to
save lives, Donald Allen and Manuel Revolorio allegedly decided to take
advantage of the Covid-19 pandemic for their own personal benefit,” stated
IRS-CI Special Agent-in-Charge Larsen.
“IRS-CI is committed to not only protecting the tax system, but also
protecting all taxpayers from unscrupulous individuals who attempt to take
advantage of them.”
The charge in the complaint is an allegation, and the
defendants are presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty.
Attorney General William P. Barr created the COVID-19
Hoarding and Price Gouging Task Force, led by Craig Carpenito, United States
Attorney for District of New Jersey, who is coordinating efforts with the
Antitrust Division and U.S. Attorneys across the country wherever illegal
activity involving protective personal equipment occurs. The Secretary of Health and Human Services
has issued a Notice designating categories of health and medical supplies that
must not be hoarded or sold for exorbitant prices.
Please 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.
The government’s case is being handled by the Office’s Public
Integrity and Business & Securities Fraud Sections. Assistant United States Attorneys Nathan
Reilly and Hiral Mehta are in charge of the prosecution.
The Defendants:
DONALD LEE ALLEN
Age: 62
Riverside, California
MANUEL REVOLORIO
Age: 37
Rancho Cucamonga, California
E.D.N.Y. Docket No. 20-MJ-318
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