A Rockland businessman has been awarded nearly $3 million from two businesses that failed to deliver Covid-19 test kits.
U.S. District Court Judge Philip M. Halpern ordered Medical Engineering LLC, Viking Sales Group LLC and their principals to pay $2,939,032 to Seven Trade LLC operated by Isaac Lefkowitz of Monsey.
The defendants received the complaint but did not answer, Halperin ruled on Sept. 13 in issuing a default judgment.
Seven Trade accused the companies and their principals of fraud, unjust enrichment and other charges in a complaint filed Feb. 28 in federal court, White Plains.
Seven Trade had lined up a deal to sell Covid-19 self-test kits to Corizon Health Inc., a Tennessee company that runs healthcare programs in prisons and jails.
Shlomo E. Suissa, a purported test kit broker who operated Viking Sales Group in Aventura, Florida, and Lonnie Banks, head of Medical Engineering in Temecula, California, allegedly claimed that Medical Engineering already had millions of test kits.
Suissa and Banks knew that Seven Trade wanted to buy the kits to resell to a customer and make a profit, according to a declaration by Lefkowitz, and that he needed them quickly.
On Jan. 13, Seven Trade agreed to pay Medical Engineering $2,065,000 for 350,000 Siemens Clinitest Rapid Covid-19 Self-Test kits, according to court records. It paid $1.8 million upfront and agreed to pay the rest on delivery. Medical Engineering was to pay a commission to Viking Sales Group for brokering the deal.
The kits were to be delivered to Corizon Health in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma by Feb. 3.
But Medical Engineering did not have the kits, the Seven Trade lawsuit alleges, and Suissa and Banks made a variety of excuses and created phony documents to buy time while they absconded with Seven Trade funds.
Viking eventually refunded $200,000, to ward off legal action according to Lefkowitz, and Suissa promised to quickly refund the $1.6 million balance. But the balance was never paid.
Seven Trade’s calculation of losses includes $1,161,500 in lost profits. It paid $5.90 per kit and had a deal with Corizon Health to sell them for $9.29 each plus shipping costs. Halperin added 9% interest from Feb. 3
Seven Trade was represented by Manhattan attorneys Aleksandra Lamontanaro, Jonathan A. Lynn and Glen B. Lenihan.
