Businessman Charged in Scheme to Hoard Personal Protective Equipment and Price Gouge Health Care Providers Details Written by IVN
Jackson, Mississippi - A Mississippi businessman was charged with defrauding the United States and other health care providers in a $1.8 million scheme related to acquiring and hoarding personal protective equipment (PPE) and price gouging health care providers, including numerous U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) hospitals in critical need of PPE.
Nicholas L. McQuaid, Acting Assistant Attorney General of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division, Darren J. LaMarca, Acting U.S. Attorney of the Southern District of Mississippi, Michelle A. Sutphin, Special Agent in Charge of the FBI’s Jackson, Mississippi Field Office, Jeffrey A. Breen, Special Agent in Charge of the VA Office of Inspector General (OIG) South Central Field Office, and Jack Stanton, Acting Special Agent in Charge of U.S. Immigration and Customs En
Ocean Springs businessman hit with federal indictment for conspiracy, fraud involving PPE
Updated Jan 27, 2021;
GULFPORT, Mississippi Ocean Springs businessman Ken Ritchey has been indicted by a federal grand jury with multiple counts related to the hoarding of personal protective equipment and price gouging health care providers.
According to the U.S. Department of Justice, Ritchey was at the center of a $1.8 million scheme which included price gouging numerous U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs hospitals.
The justice department said Ritchey, 57, was charged with conspiracy to commit wire fraud and mail fraud, conspiracy to defraud the United States, conspiracy to commit hoarding of designated scarce materials and hoarding of designated scarce materials.
A U.S. businessman, a giant in the pharmaceutical industry, is to be jailed for eighteen years and will have to come up with more than a third-of-a-billion dollars after a court sentenc .
A U.S. businessman, a giant in the pharmaceutical industry, is to be jailed for eighteen years and will have to come up with more than a third-of-a-billion dollars after a court sentenc .