HOUSTON - Two Houston-area men are accused of attempting to fraudulently sell 50 million N95 facemasks that they did not possess to a foreign government, defrauding them out of more than $317 million, U.S.
Attorney Ryan K. Patrick announced.Paschal Ngozi Eleanya, 46, turned himself into authorities on Tuesday, and Arael Doolittle, 55, was taken into custody on November 20.A federal grand jury returned the three-count indictment on November 19.According to the U.S.
Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Texas, the indictment alleges that the two men and their brokers negotiated a sales price for the masks that was five times the public list price that 3M had set.MORE: Houston man arrested as ringleader behind global cyber scamThe ind.