There are “thousands” of other types of protective gear on site, yet to be identified as genuine, and at least 200,000 fake masks have found their way into the health care system.
Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz shows a box of fake 3M masks. (Photo by Queens District Attorney’s Office)
On February 11, Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz announced the seizure of 1.7 million counterfeit 3M N95 gas masks on Long Island and the arrest of suspect Zhi Zeng, 33, of Brooklyn-Dyke Heights. There were also “thousands” of other types of protective gear on the scene that have yet to be identified as counterfeit.
Law enforcement officers responded to a warehouse at 5-06 51st Avenue on Long Island.
Law enforcement officers went to the warehouse at 5-06 51st Avenue on Long Island. (Photo by Queens District Attorney’s Office)
Law enforcement officers seized a large number of counterfeit 3M masks on site.
Law enforcement officers seized a large number of counterfeit 3M masks at the scene. (Photo by Queens District Attorney’s Office)
Prosecutor Katz said he recently received a tip that the warehouse at 5-06 51st Avenue on Long Island was suspected of selling fake masks, so investigators posed as undercover buyers and purchased multiple batches of masks on different dates at prices ranging from $2.95 to $3.25 per piece. In contrast, according to 3M, the suggested retail price for N95 masks is $1.27. The masks purchased by the investigators were eventually identified by the 3M brand rights holder as counterfeit.
According to the allegations, Zeng Zhi, a warehouse manager, was present when law enforcement officers raided the warehouse on 51st Avenue in Long Island and found “boxes and boxes of 3M brand N95-1860 masks stacked in small mountains in a dirty and dusty Long Island City building. The warehouse has two floors of approximately 2,000 square feet (about 186 square meters) each, with piles of these 3M boxes on each floor.
A total of 1,788,340 masks were seized during the operation. In addition, there were thousands of other types of personal protective equipment as well as name brand hand sanitizers, disinfectant wipes, children’s masks, construction masks and gowns in the warehouse. Investigators from the Queens District Attorney have contacted the companies to determine the authenticity of the shipments.
So far, investigators have determined that 200,000 masks purchased by a health system in the southern United States came from this warehouse and sold for more than $700,000. The Queens District Attorney said other law enforcement partners are being contacted to see if other health care facilities have been duped into buying the unsafe masks.
Zeng Zhi, who is currently charged with first-degree counterfeiting of a trademark (a Class C felony) for possessing and selling fake 3M brand medical masks, was arraigned in Queens Criminal Court on the morning of the 10th and is next scheduled to be arraigned on April 27. If convicted, he faces up to 15 years in prison.
Queens District Attorney Katz said more than 450,000 Americans died from the terrible pandemic. The counterfeit masks gave first responders “a false sense of hope and security,” and the defendant was prepared to sell more of them to anyone willing to pay the high price. “Masks are Life-saving equipment for our medical professionals, those in essential professions who risk their lives and the lives of their families every day to provide medical care to others. We confiscated these counterfeit goods and these unsafe masks will not continue to be distributed to the public or healthcare professionals.”
Peter C. Fitzhugh, head of New York’s Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) unit, said arrests will continue to be made of those who import and distribute counterfeit protective equipment (PPE) or inflate the price of “mask money” “to ensure that every mask worn by our first responders is genuine. masks are real.”
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