United States of America v. Imran Selcuck

Albany, NY: Violation of the Defense Production Act of 1950 criminal defense lawyer represented Imran Selcuk, age 35, who hoarded and price gouged personal protective equipment.



Selcuk admitted that, in March 2020, he purchased approximately 100,000 KN95 facemasks and 25,000 surgical-style facemasks for $1 per mask and 50 cents per mask, respectively. Selcuk then offered these masks for sale at his Troy pizza restaurant and through a website for as much as ten times his acquisition cost. Selcuk also admitted that his website falsely represented that the KN95 masks he offered for sale were certified by the U.S. Food & Drug Administration (FDA). In fact, the FDA does not "certify” facemasks.



This case was investigated by HSI, with assistance from the U.S. Postal Inspection Service, and was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Michael D. Gadarian and Joshua R. Rosenthal.



This case was brought in coordination with the Department of Justice's COVID-19 Hoarding and Price Gouging Task Force, which organizes efforts among the Antitrust Division and U.S. Attorney's offices across the country to address illegal activity involving personal protective equipment.

Defendant sentenced to three years probation and was ordered Selcuk to pay a $2,500 fine.