Indian-origin man charged with hoarding, price-gouging PPE in US

A 45-year-old Indian-origin man has become the first person to face criminal charges in the US under the country's Defence Production Act for allegedly hoarding the scarce personal protective equipment and selling it at huge markups during the COVID-19 pandemic, authorities said.

Amardeep Singh stockpiled tonnes of respirators, surgical gowns, hand sanitisers and other personal protective equipment (PPE) at a Long Island warehouse and sold it online through various websites and Nassau County storefronts at unconscionably excessive prices, Prosecutors from the US Attorney's Office in Brooklyn said in a statement on Friday.

A criminal complaint was filed on Friday in a federal court in Central Islip charging Singh with violating the Defence Production Act (DPA) of 1950 by hoarding PPE at a warehouse in Brentwood, New York, amid the COVID-19 pandemic, and price-gouging customers of his retail store in Plainview, New York, the statement said.

If convicted under the DPA, which is a misdemeanour charge, Singh faces up to one year in prison. He will self-surrender to authorities next week, the US Attorney's Office said.

"As charged in the complaint, Singh's amassing of critical PPE during a public health crisis and reselling at huge markups places him squarely in the cross-hairs of law enforcement armed with the Defence Production Act, said Richard P Donoghue, United States Attorney for the Eastern District of New York.

"This Office is working tirelessly in coordination with the COVID-19 Hoarding and Price Gouging Task Force to prevent a pandemic of greed by profiteers."