3M, Amazon obtain judgment in e-commerce fraud case

Crime did not pay for a group of defendants who sold counterfeit 3M N95 respirators on Amazon.

The defendants - KM Brothers Inc., KMJ Trading Inc., Supreme Sunrise, Inc., and Mao Yu and third-party Zhiju USA, Inc. – have been issued a permanent injunction against committing fraudulent activity as alleged by 3M. In June 2020, Amazon supported a suit brought by 3M against the defendants.

The suit alleged the defendants defrauded the CPG/healthcare giant’s customers by charging grossly inflated prices for fake, defective, and damaged respirator products. The lawsuit alleges that Mao Yu and his affiliated companies falsely advertised as third-party sellers on Amazon under the 3M brand. 

According to 3M’s complaint, charged unsuspecting customers more than $350,000 when the customers responded to false listings that claimed to be reselling authentic N95 respirators, while actually selling damaged and fake goods at highly-inflated prices. 

The resolution with these defendants also requires payment to 3M for donation to a COVID-19 related charity. 3M plans to continue to pursue legal action against those who supplied the purported N95s to the defendants.

3M and Amazon collaborated to identify and stop the fraudulent scheme and pursue legal action against the defendants. The companies said they will make a joint donation of more than $192,000 recovered from the defendants to Direct Relief’s non-profit work to provide PPE to health workers.

Amazon takes an active role to combat fraudulent and counterfeit activity on its site. This includes a current effort to assist the Southern District of New York in prosecuting four individuals for allegedly engaging in a scheme to systematically defraud Amazon by manipulating its vendor system.