The PPE industry is very fast moving with many moving parts. Brokers, buyers and suppliers work out large scale deals daily to help supply the nation with PPE. Here we are, 9 months into a deadly pandemic and health professionals are still finding some difficulty acquiring PPE facemasks, gloves and gowns to help keep them protected while on the job.
With very little federal support, local mayors, sheriffs and other statewide personnel entered into deals to secure PPE. Some of these deals were fraudulent. Due to the pandemic, new investors and suppliers with no PPE industry credibility are peddling fake products to officials and communities in need.
John Thomas helped secure close to 630 million dollars in PPE sales in one month but things did not go as planned. John Thomas and his partner Mike Gula own Blue Flame Medical PPE. Having zero experience the pair entered the PPE game and started securing large scale deals in no time.
Blue Flame Medical claimed to be the “the largest global network of COVID-19 medical suppliers”. John stands behind that claim as he leveraged his business partnerships and relationships. Blue Flame Medical worked directly with large Chinese and Malaysian suppliers.
The company also claimed to be able to fulfill orders in 7 to 12 days but that rarely happened. Some of the deals secured by Blue Flame Medical were never fulfilled and money had to be refunded. Due to the pandemic, entities were pressed for time and little vetting was actually completed.
Blue Flame Medical leveraged their connections to secure a large deal in Maryland. Officials in Maryland purchased a 110 ventilators at $41,000 a piece. These ventilators typically retail for approximately $5,000 a piece. John claimed these prices were being driven from the manufacturers.
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Article sourced from: CBS News
