A Frederick County, Maryland, man is accused of profiteering off the coronavirus pandemic.
In newly filed criminal charging documents, federal prosecutors said Marek Majtan unlawfully sold unauthorized chemicals, some of which he obtained in an abandoned Baltimore warehouse, on eBay and his own website.
The chemicals were not approved by the EPA and were shipped by Majtan to at least 100 customers without safety information for buyers, according to the charging documents.
A website registered by Majtan in April, which was still operating Thursday, showed a set of four containers of “concentrate bottles” of disinfectant cost $24.99, according to prosecutors’ court filings. A pack of eight bottles was listed as costing $49.99. The site included testimonials allegedly from customers and stated the EPA had approved the sales.
Majtan faces charges of mail fraud and violations of the Federal Insecticide Act. In court filings Wednesday, prosecutors said they seized more than a dozen gallons of chemicals and at least 40 packets of discontinued pesticides in a search of Majtan’s business and home.
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The court filings from prosecutors said the chemicals sold by Majtan did not have legally required labels or registration numbers.
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The charging documents said in a series of undercover purchases, agents bought products from Majtan and found the products did not have necessary safety warnings about burns and eye injuries from the chemicals.
According to court filings, Majtan told federal investigators he purchased his chemicals from a man “[who] had found a pallet of the pesticides in an abandoned storage unit in Baltimore, Maryland.” The court filings said Majtan said he also bought pouches and packets of a company’s discontinued pesticides from an online vendor.
The filings said Majtan acknowledged repackaging the chemicals in containers he purchased at a Home Depot.
In their filings, federal agents said Majtan’s sales put the public at risk, in part because he failed to ship the needed safety instructions. According to their filings, “It is vitally important to provide a customer with this information for the proper administration of first aid if someone is exposed to the pesticide, for properly identifying the chemical contents in the pesticide, and for how to use the product to make it effective as a pesticide.”
Attempts to reach Majtan on his listed cellphone were unsuccessful.
Court dockets show he has not yet entered a plea in the case, nor is an attorney listed in his case.
