MIAMI (Legal Newsline) – New York recovered about half of the money it claims a medical supply company scammed it out of during last year’s rush to purchase ventilators.
The city and Global Medical Supply Group filed the terms of their settlement in Miami federal court on April 7. They stipulated to final judgment entered in favor of NYC on its breach of contract allegation, which is one of 10 claims made by the city in its lawsuit.
NYC will be paid almost $1.9 million under that claim and the rest were voluntarily dismissed, closing the case.
NYC filed a lawsuit Oct. 8 in Florida federal court against Global Medical Supply Group, Nations Fast Tax & Accounting and Zhejiang Jinrong Trading Co., as well as four individuals.
The City says it agreed to pay $8.2 million to Global Medical to buy 130 ventilators in March 2020, when COVID-19 cases were on the rise.
“Exploiting the COVID-19 crisis for their own gain, Defendants obtained millions of dollars from NYC through false statements about their ability to source the equipment in China, where the market for ventilators was in a state of frenzy due to overwhelming worldwide demand,” the lawsuit.
To date, the City has paid $4,283,905 but has not received the ventilators, it says.
“Despite their lack of immediate access to the requested ventilators, their complete inexperience and lack of licenses and related credentials required by law, Defendants represented to NYC that they could deliver 130 ventilators of a particular type—model VG70, manufactured by Beijing Aeonmed Co.—in a matter of days,” the suit says.
“In fact, they could not, and they did not.”