New federal charges detail how Coast businessman exploited COVID fears across Southeast Anita Lee, The Sun Herald
Jan. 28 Sweeping federal charges against Ocean Springs businessman Kenneth Bryan Ritchey lay out in detail a conspiracy to snap up personal protective equipment and reap windfall profits during the early months of the COVID-19 pandemic at the expense of hospitals desperate to protect employees from the virus.
The indictment accuses Ritchey of working with 11 unnamed co-conspirators to buy and hoard PPE sold at inflated prices. He is accused of defrauding health care providers, including Veterans Affairs hospitals, of $1.8 million.
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