Two Inland Empire men charged with fraud for selling surgical masks they did not own

The Department of Justice reported Monday afternoon that two Inland Empire men were charged with conspiracy to commit fraud by trying to sell surgical masks they did not own for 4 million dollars.

Donald Lee Allen age 62 from Riverside and Manuel Revoloria age 37 from Rancho Cucamonga were arrested Monday.

Court filings stated that Allen and Revoloria created a website for a company called International Commerce and Investment Group falsely claiming to have done business since 2014 with medical institutions and other companies. They also falsely stated that they had contracts in place for one million surgical masks attempting to pressure a buyer into immediately wire 4 million dollars to secure those masks.

Allen and Revoloria showed those masks to a representative of the buyer who turned out to actually be a federal agent.

FBI Assistant Director-in-Charge Sweeney said "The alleged behavior here is nothing short of a betrayal of fellow citizens – both those serving on the front lines, and the communities who need those essential workers able to safely serve.”

United States Attorney Donoghue added “As alleged in the complaint, the defendants sought to take advantage of the urgent national need for life-saving personal protective equipment through a fraudulent scheme designed to line their own pockets.”

Attorney General William P. Barr created the COVID-19 Hoarding and Price Gouging Task Force, led by Craig Carpenito, United States Attorney for District of New Jersey

“The defendants in this case allegedly created an elaborate scam to defraud their victim, going as far as to wrap and label empty boxes and try to pass them off as containing actual personal protective equipment,” stated COVID-19 Hoarding and Price Gouging Task Force head Carpenito. “The public should be on guard against these types of schemes, and the perpetrators of them should know that the Department of Justice and its partners are working all the time to disrupt their attempts to prey on the public.”