Russian Police Thwart Illegal Ventilator Sales

Moscow, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 30th Apr, 2020 ) :Russian security forces have arrested several members of a criminal gang suspected of selling old ventilators during the coronavirus epidemic and seized hundreds of the machines, authorities said Wednesday.

The interior ministry said seven people were detained and five of them placed under house arrest for allegedly selling the unregistered ventilators in Gzhel, a small town outside the capital Moscow.

It said the ventilators that were seized did not have the proper paperwork and a fraud investigation had been opened.

It estimated the value of the find at more than 200 million rubles ($2.7 million) and said the machines had been made in 1999-2000.

The police also later seized around 1,500 ventilators in separate searches in the Kostroma region northeast of Moscow and the Sverdlovsk region in the Urals, the ministry said.

The state healthcare watchdog Roszdravnadzor said eight members of a "criminal gang" were arrested in a joint operation with police and the FSB security service last week.

The ministry did not say when the operation took place nor to whom the ventillators were to be sold.

The watchdog, which also said a fraud case had been launched, reported that more than 280 Russian-made ventilators were seized.

Russia is said to be approaching its peak of coronavirus infections, with officials reporting more than 99,000 cases and 972 fatalities on Wednesday.