New York City Man Arrested For Selling Fraudulent COVID-19 Testing Services
PITTSBURGH (KDKA) - A resident of New York City was arrested and charged for his role in advertising, selling, and not delivering COVID-19 test results.
The United States Secret Service and the Pittsburgh Field Office Cyber Fraud Task Force were involved in identifying and shutting down the website he used.
Henry Gindt II of Queens, New York is now facing charges of mail and wire fraud, and conspiring to commit mail and wire fraud.
According to the Department of Justice, Gindt was selling stolen COVID-19 testing services for $135-$200 and falsely claiming the tests he had were connected to labs that would test the kits, shipping the test kits without any medical screening, and then providing no results to the consumer.
"Let this be a message to anyone who wants to scam our fellow citizens during this pandemic: the Department of Justice will take swift action to disrupt your scheme and then we will arrest you," said U.S. Attorney Brady. "This is why we created our Western Pennsylvania COVID-19 Fraud Task Force. Gindt tried to profit from the pandemic by selling stolen test kits and services without ever delivering the promised results. Instead, we shut him down and now he is facing prison time."
The criminal complaint says Gindt founded a website called "YouHealth Inc." to offer telemedicine services, personalized nutrition, and DNA genetics testing. He also allegedly obtained stolen COVID-19 testing kids from a laboratory employee and then proceeded to sell those through his website.
His false advertising claimed he was affiliated with a certified lab that would test the kits and provide consumers with the results.
These kits were sold to consumers in several states, including some in Western Pennsylvania.
The kits were overnighted vid FedEx complete with the nasal swab required for testing and a medical questionnaire to screen for COVID-19. The buyers were then instructed to send the test kits back to "Lab" for an individual identified as "T.A."
Results were never provided.
The case started thanks to a tip from a Western Pennsylvania resident contacting the COVID-19 Task Force in regards to when they received an email advertising the test kits.
After an investigation, the website was shut down on April 15.