Two Texas area men have been criminally charged with trying to sell 50 million nonexistent N95 respirator masks to a foreign government.

The U.S. Department of Justice shared on Tuesday that the men did not actually have the masks in their possession and were selling them at five times their retail value for a staggering inflated price tag of $317.6 million.

Paschal Ngozi Eleanya, 46, and Arael Doolittle, 55, of Southern Texas were indicted on November the 19th. In the indictment, both men were looking at a payout of $275 million each. The remaining money was set to go to the foreign government's own representatives and the defendants’ "broker." It is not clear who that broker is.

The N95 masks alleged to be for sale in the scheme are manufactured by 3M, the world's largest producer of N95 respirator masks. Throughout the pandemic, the company has vowed not to raise the prices of the masks in an effort to keep them affordable and accessible to those who need them most.

In the indictment, both men are facing charges of two counts of wire fraud and conspiracy. The wire fraud charges carry a maximum prison sentence of 20 years, while the conspiracy charges carry a maximum of five years.

The scheme was busted by the U.S. Secret Service when they intercepted text messages between the men and representatives of the foreign government. The foreign government had wired the $317 million before the U.S. Secret Service interfered.

While the U.S. Justice Department has not yet identified the foreign government, they have stated that Eleanya eventually turned himself in. Doolittle was arrested on November 20 and is scheduled to be arraigned on Wednesday.

Neither attorney for the men has released a statement on behalf of their client. However, this is not the first time Doolittle has found himself in hot water. In a separate October 2020 charge, Doolittle pled guilty to defrauding at least 21 investors out of $1.2 million in transactions related to oil and gas.

Price Gouging and Fraudulent Sales During the Pandemic

This is not the first time N95 respirator masks have been used as pawns for financial gain. Since the pandemic, 3M has filed at least 19 civil lawsuits aimed at stopping price gouging of the masks and widespread counterfeiting that ensued shortly after the pandemic hit.

The scheme by the two Texas men is not the first of its kind during this pandemic. In early September, a Park City man from Utah was indicted on similar charges when he falsely claimed to be a representative of 3M. 46-year-old John Anthony Taylor alleged to have millions of masks and tried to sell them to unsuspecting victims, including medical centers and state governments.

One of his victims was an undercover FBI agent. In this case, the FBI was tipped off by an attorney who represented a medical company Taylor targeted. The attorney was concerned about Taylor’s claims of having one billion N95 masks available for sale.

Price gouging during the pandemic has extended beyond just N95 respirator masks to other safety products as well. Earlier in the pandemic, products in high demand, including hand sanitizer, sanitation wipes, and other forms of PPE, were all products at the center of price gouging.

The laws on price gouging vary from state-to-state. However, price gouging is generally identified when a product is priced over 20% of its standard retail value. Price gouging should always be reported to your state's Attorney General.

As the pandemic rages on, fraudulent behavior, hoarding, and price gouging can be reported to the National Center for Disaster Fraud (NCDF) or by using their National hotline at 866-720-5721.