A business in Eerie County received large orders for coronavirus personal protection equipment that it had never shipped, the New York Attorney General’s Office was asking for payment.
AG Letitia James wants Manhattan Supreme Court judges to stop Frank Borgese and Impact Medical & Surgical Solutions from accusing them of having access to millions of 3M N95 masks and KN95 masks that they can send quickly to the state of New York and the hospital and healthcare system throughout the country.
In addition, Impact offered to sell masks “at prices many times higher than 3M’s list price,” the petition filed a fee Wednesday.
“In fact, neither Borgese nor Impact Medical are official 3M distributors, who can obtain 3M N95 respirator masks, or have given 3M N95 respirator masks,” court documents claim.
Borgese has also provided false information to agents in disguise from the AG office about the KN95 mask that he allegedly sold, according to court reports.
In one case, Impact was allegedly paid $ 595,000 by the health care company and hospital Amedisys, Inc. on April 2 and promised to provide 3M N95 masks within three days. When nearly a week has passed and the mask has not been sent the company must be returned, court documents claim.
A doctor wears personal protective equipment (PPE)Daniel Leal-Olivas / Pool via REUTERS
At least two other medical companies faced a similar situation and had to be returned for orders of more than $ 500,000 after Impact failed to deliver. One of these companies was left hanging for five weeks after Impact promised to provide the mask within five days, the court filed alleging.
On April 21, the mask maker 3M sent a cease and termination letter to Impact to pick up prices and falsely claim to have a relationship with 3M, claims court documents.
Impact also lied to agents in disguise from the AG office about the type of KN95 masks they had and provided fake reference agents from previous buyers who were actually relatives of one of Borgese’s business partners, court documents said.
“Respondents continue to use fraudulent and deceptive credit card fraud practices to request the sale of KN95 respirator masks and other APDs,” the petition claims.
The AG office wants Impact and financial records to see if other victims have been cheated and AG wants Impact to pay compensation to all victims.
The office also wants Borgese and Impact to pay $ 2 million in bonds to ensure they comply with court orders that may be ordered, which will also be used as restitution funds for victims.
