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Rodney L. Stevenson II of Muskegon faces charges of scamming customers into paying for N95 masks they never received from his e-commerce website.
The U.S. Attorney's Office in San Francisco unsealed a criminal complaint on Tuesday against Stevenson, 24. It says that a hospital employee and three other buyers didn't get N95-compliant masks.
Three victims from the San Francisco Bay area paid for masks but never got any. A fourth customer paid more than $400 for fabric masks that did not comply with the N95 standard that Stevenson's Michigan company, EM General, purported to sell, authorities allege.
"Hospitals, healthcare providers and everyday people are understandably anxious to obtain N95 masks, N99 filters and other PPE,” said U.S. Attorney David L. Anderson in a statement “The criminal element is always ready to prey on fear and uncertainty, and it is all too easy to lie over the internet. While sheltering in place, Americans are shopping on the internet like never before. The complaint alleges a consumer’s nightmare of fake webpages and false promises.”
Stevenson is charged with wire fraud. He was arrested at home in Muskegon, appeared in federal court in Grand Rapids and was released to await his next hearing.
