Long Island man charged with hoarding tons of PPE

[Weatherman2020]

So I own a lot of X that due to events next year the government claims is in great demand. But I like collecting X, it’s my hobby.
So I go to prison?
America turned into China so quickly I must have blinked.

 

[Eric Arthur Blair]

I think they'd probably try to get him with the following:

"In order to prevent hoarding,” the Act further provides that “no person shall accumulate (1) in excess of the reasonable demands of business, personal, or home consumption, or (2) for the purpose of resale at prices in excess of prevailing market prices, materials which have been designated by the President as scarce materials or materials the supply of which would be threatened by such accumulation.”

Whether it's been legally obtained or not doesn't really factor into the equation. If he bought that stuff for, say, $10 each and is selling it for $100 a piece, he could be fucked...

Expose facto.

If he purchased the items before the defense production act went into effect it doesn't apply.

Price gouging is another matter...but if he can prove years of storage costs he should be able to beat that as well.

When somebody sells a rare comic book for 3 million...nobody accuses that seller of price gouging.

You mean the Defense Production Act of 1950? Yeah, I wouldn't hold my breath on that.

And the comic book argument? Pure comic gold! Nobody is going to claim a rare issue of Batman
is an item that's vitally needed for the nation or for people's well being.

 

[OldLady]

Jiminy Christmas. Is there ANYthing you conservatives can get right? You don't take advantage of desperation and dire need. The stuff he had for sale saves lives. Healthcare workers sicken and can die without them. But it is government overreach to keep him from selling that equipment for many times more than it is worth?

You're sick.

 

[Canon Shooter]

If he purchased the items before the defense production act went into effect it doesn't apply.

Well, considering the guy was born 1974, 24 years after the Defense Production Act went into affect, I'm gonna' go out on a limb and guess that's probably not the case...

Price gouging is another matter...but if he can prove years of storage costs he should be able to beat that as well.

I don't really see why that would matter. If he's owned the stuff for 20 years that in no way justifies charging exorbitant prices for it...

When somebody sells a rare comic book for 3 million...nobody accuses that seller of price gouging.

Are you seriously trying to equate vital supplies needed for a national emergency to a comic book?

Okay, thanks for letting us know that you're able to discuss this intelligently...

 

[Eric Arthur Blair]

So I own a lot of X that due to events next year the government claims is in great demand. But I like collecting X, it’s my hobby.
So I go to prison?
America turned into China so quickly I must have blinked.

Look, this isn't rocket science. If you buy up all the water rights in a vast region and a long
drought turns deadly and you will only sell water at a vastly inflated price so that crops die and people are dying that's a form of extortion. China has nothing to do with this

 

[Carl in Michigan]

Jiminy Christmas. Is there ANYthing you conservatives can get right? You don't take advantage of desperation and dire need. The stuff he had for sale saves lives. Healthcare workers sicken and can die without them. But it is government overreach to keep him from selling that equipment for many times more than it is worth?

You're sick.

You conservatives? I agree with you on this one. It's all about intent.

 

[Marion Morrison]

Idk..it was his property. Someone had to have snitched on him. He made somebody mad.

 

[Eric Arthur Blair]

You conservatives? I agree with you on this one. It's all about intent.

Me too. Stop slandering conservatives with a broad brush.

 

[Eric Arthur Blair]

Idk..it was his property. Someone had to have snitched on him. He made somebody mad.

Maybe the people he was trying to gouge.

 

[Thunk]

If he purchased the items before the defense production act went into effect it doesn't apply.

Well, considering the guy was born 1974, 24 years after the Defense Production Act went into affect, I'm gonna' go out on a limb and guess that's probably not the case...

Price gouging is another matter...but if he can prove years of storage costs he should be able to beat that as well.

I don't really see why that would matter. If he's owned the stuff for 20 years that in no way justifies charging exorbitant prices for it...

When somebody sells a rare comic book for 3 million...nobody accuses that seller of price gouging.

Are you seriously trying to equate vital supplies needed for a national emergency to a comic book?

Okay, thanks for letting us know that you're able to discuss this intelligently...

Fine...be a pain in the ass...we will take it one by one.

Perhaps I should have used the word "invoked". There was nothing illegal about this guy "hoarding" medical supplies until somebody else needed them. If he bought them before the defense production act was INVOKED (for the covID-19 pandemic of 2020)...then he did nothing illegal.

Next...we have the cost of the mask...the annual cost of storage...and then a "reasonable" profit.

I found a 2 pack of N95 masks I bought in 2006...the 2 pack cost me $8 (I still had the receipt in the bag)...so it doesn't matter if they were selling for 80 cents a year ago...I paid $4 per mask. It would be reasonable for me to charge more that $4 per mask regardless of what they were selling for a year ago.

And lastly...an N95 mask...a comic book...a picaso...a can of spam...it's all the same. When somebody else wants it, they declare you a "hoarder" and steal your shit and feel oh so righteous doing so.

Now if the guy bought all this shit last month...his head is on the chopping block & rightfully so!

 

[Canon Shooter]

Now if the guy bought all this shit last month...his head is on the chopping block & rightfully so!

I'm quite comfortable that this is far and away the most likely scenario...

 

[Carl in Michigan]

From the New York Post:

The feds say that Singh made several bulk sales of the price-gouged goods to do-gooder organizations that help senior citizens and children — such as selling 2,000 three-ply disposable face masks that he scored at 7 cents a pop and selling them to the New York Foundation for Senior Citizens for $1 each

And this (apparently he aquired the items DURING the "crisis"):

Singh’s amassing of critical personal protective equipment during a public health crisis and reselling at huge markups places him squarely in the cross-hairs of law enforcement armed with the Defense Production Act,” US Attorney Richard Donoghue said in a news release.

 

[Thunk]

such as selling 2,000 three-ply disposable face masks that he scored at 7 cents a pop and selling them to the New York Foundation for Senior Citizens for $1 each

$1 each does not sound like "gouging" to me. And at 7 cents each, they can't be N95 masks...I doubt medical workers would want to use them.

But he DID buy them during the crisis...so who knows?

I've come up with several "inventions" for emergency equipment...some of them were pretty good ideas too. But I never followed up on them for exactly this reason!

Nobody wants to pay for them until they are needed...and once they are needed they think they should be free because "it's an emergency".

So good ideas that nobody can protect themselves with because they never made it to market because of this stinkin' thinkin'.