Indian-origin man in New Jersey sentenced for COVID-19 Fraud

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A Somerset County, New Jersey, man was sentenced July 20, 2022, to 46 months in prison for orchestrating a $2 million COVID-19 fraud scheme.

Guaravjit “Raj” Singh, 27, of Montgomery, New Jersey, previously pleaded guilty before U.S. District Court Judge Peter Sheridan when he was charged with one count of wire fraud.

Judge Sheridan imposed the sentence on July 20, in Trenton federal court, U.S. Attorney Philip R. Sellinger announced July 20, 2022. Judge Sheridan also sentenced Singh to three years of supervised release.

According to court documents and statements quoted in the press release, from May 2020, in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic, Singh defrauded 10 victims inducing them to send him over $2 million to obtain personal protective equipment (PPE) and then stealing the money and not providing the PPE to the victims as promised.

Singh engaged victims to enter into an agreement pursuant to which Singh would be paid approximately $7.1 million for approximately 1.5 million medical gowns, which ultimately were to be sourced to the city of New York amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

The victims wired Singh, though his company GJS Solutions LLC, $712,500, representing a 10 percent initial deposit for the medical gowns.

According to the press release, after receiving these funds from the victims, Singh made additional misrepresentations and excuses to the victims, ensuring them that they would receive the medical gowns.

However, instead of purchasing and delivering medical gowns, Singh used the funds for personal expenses.

(Press release at https://www.justice.gov/usao-nj/pr/somerset-county-man-sentenced-46-months-prison-orchestrating-covid-19-fraud)