Law enforcement authorities are intensifying their crackdown on alleged fraudsters who are exploiting the coronavirus pandemic to push illicit money-making schemes.

Mike Feuer, the City Attorney of Los Angeles, announced May 27 that his office has sued Huntington Beach, CA-based Wellness Matrix Group (WMGR) for selling bogus “at-home” tests for COVID-19 and falsely claiming that the tests were approved by the U.S. Food & Drug Administration. WMGR also allegedly sold what it falsely claimed was coronavirus-killing “virucide,” marketing the product as able to “build a force field around your event or even spray your entire city.”

Feuer says that, as part of the scheme, WMGR allegedly attached false government registration numbers to its dubious products and fabricated phony scientific studies and white papers to substantiate its untrue claims. The company’s alleged deception includes stealing a distinguished medical researcher/professor’s name and credentials in an effort to substantiate what authorities say is a fraudulent scientific paper showing WMGR’s products were legit.

The suit names George Todt as co-owner and director of business affairs of WMGR, while Barry Migliorini is CEO. Both are personally named in the suit.

Mike Feuer, city attorney of Los Angeles

“It’s inexcusable to try to profit from this pandemic at the expense of people’s health. We allege these defendants have been doing just that, engaging in a pattern of misrepresentation to boost their sales,” said Feuer. “During this health crisis, we’ll continue to be especially vigilant about protecting an anxious public from those who would try to take advantage of them.”

Speaking to NPR, an attorney for WMGR said his clients have done nothing wrong. “It is unfortunate that a molehill is being blown up into this inaccurate mountain that wildly misstates the facts,” William Dailey said.

In separate cases involving alleged malfeasance pertaining to personal protective equipment (PPE), the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York has criminally charged both a licensed pharmacist and a used car salesman with offenses that include price gouging.

Used car salesman Richard Romano, 58, of Manalapan, NJ, faces wire fraud charges for trying, along with co-conspirators, to perpetuate a $45 million scheme to sell PPE to New York City at massively marked-up prices during the worst days of the COVID-19 pandemic. New York City has been the epicenter of coronavirus cases and deaths in the U.S.

According to authorities, Romano offered New York millions of 3M-brand N95 respirators at a more than 400% markup from the list price, even though he was not an authorized 3M distributor and did not have the masks. Romano also allegedly tried to sell the Florida Division of Emergency Management three-ply N99 facemasks at prices marked up by more than 500% from the manufacturer’s prices.

Among other things, Romano’s scheme included creating a fictitious authorization letter that falsely represented that his company was authorized to sell millions of units of 3M-brand PPE. In a text to an alleged co-conspirator, Romano wrote,  “I’m working on a few deals that if I get any of them you might be buying a Ferrari,” authorities assert.

“As alleged, used car salesman Ronald Romano saw the current health emergency as an opportunity to cash in, using lies and deception in what he envisioned as a get-rich-quick scheme,” said Geoffrey S. Berman, the U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York. “Now, Ronald Romano’s short-lived second career as a purveyor of vital protective gear is over.”

Geoffrey S. Berman, the U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York.

In the third recently announced case, Berman’s office charged pharmacist Richard Schirripa, 66, of Fort Salonga, NY, with hoarding and price gouging of N95 masks in violation of the Defense Production Act, among other offenses, including healthcare fraud and aggravated identity theft.

Calling Schirripa “the Mask Man,” authorities say he spent more than $200,000 accumulating N95 masks and then sold the masks at inflated prices, charging customers up to 50% more than he had paid to acquire the vital PPE. 

“Richard Schirripa exploited an unprecedented crisis to engage in profiteering,” said Berman, noting that during a sale to an undercover officer Schirripa said, “I feel like a drug dealer.” Berman continued: “He also allegedly committed several additional, unrelated crimes, including lying to law enforcement, defrauding Medicare and Medicaid, and exploiting the personal information of his pharmacy’s customers to fill prescriptions.”