Ocean Springs businessman faces new charges related to PPE hoarding, price gouging
Ocean Springs developer Kenneth Ritchey of Ocean Springs faces a new set of charges over selling personal protective equipment to health care providers at inflated prices.
Ritchey already pleaded guilty in December to a state charge of price-gouging over PPE he sold to the Veteran Affairs center in Jackson.
The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Mississippi said in a news release Wednesday that Ritchey, 57, has been indicted on federal charges of 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.
He is accused of defrauding health-care providers of more than $1.8 million.
He made his initial appearance Thursday before U.S. Magistrate Judge Robert Myers in Gulfport.
According to the news release, Ritchey’s scheme to defraud health-care providers started a year ago, after the first case of COVID-19 was confirmed in the United States. He acquired PPE and other materials needed for the pandemic from “all possible sources, including home improvement stores and online retailers,” the news release says.
He then hoarded those materials during a time of nationwide PPE shortages and coronavirus fears, the indictment says.
The indictment accuses Ritchey of directing sales representatives to approach health-care providers, including Veterans Affairs, to buy the PPE at inflated prices through “high-pressure sales tactics.” Ritchey misrepresented the actual sources and cost of the goods, the U.S. Attorney’s Office says.
Ritchey charged “incredible markups” for the PPE, the news release says. For example, he sold N-95 protective masks for as much as $25 each after acquiring them at much lower prices.
The FBI’s Jackson Field Office, VA Office of the Inspector General , and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Homeland Security Investigations handled the investigation. The case is being prosecuted by Principal Assistant Deputy Chief Dustin M. Davis and Trial Attorney Sara E. Porter of the Criminal Division’s Fraud Section and Assistant U.S. Attorney Kathlyn R. Van Buskirk in Gulfport.
The news release says people can report COVID-19 fraud, hoarding or price-gouging to the National Center for Disaster Fraud’s National Hotline at 866-720-5721 or visit the Department of Justice’s NCDF website.
Staff Writer Margaret Baker contributed to this report.
This story was originally published January 27, 2021 at 6:01 PM.
