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Maryland company admits it sold the MBTA hand sanitizer with no sanitizer in it
By adamg on Wed, 11/18/2020 - 10:59am
WBUR reports that back in March, when everything was going to hell, Federal Resources Supply Co. sold the T $1.7 million worth of hand sanitizer that turned out to contain no alcohol. The company agreed to pay the state $150,000 in reimbursement for the "sanitizer" it actually used and $400,000 in penalties. It will also collect the rest of its worthless crap from the warehouse the T has been storing it in.
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Comments
Apparently the company gets to keep the rest of the $1.7 million
1.7 mil minus 400k minus 150k minus the cost of the company picking up the remaining product (which can't be much) equals that company still keeping a bit less than $1, 250,000.
That'll teach 'em
... to keep defrauding
If I am reading it correctly,
If I am reading it correctly, MBTA signed a contract to buy 1.7 million but they actually paid 150,000 and that is being returned. MBTA paid after the product was delivered and they caught the problem after the $150,000 payment and stopped using the product. The company is paying an additional fine, so they are keeping no money and lost money. If that is not the case, yes you are right, it sucks.
Purchase orders, invoices, and payment.
Just because the MBTA issued $1.7M of purchase orders doesn’t mean they issued $1.7M of payment.
If the MBTA was not yet fully invoiced for $1.7M or if the MBTA withheld payment of all but the $150k from the $1.7M, then there is no more money to be refunded.
this confused me too.
this confused me too.
I was thinking about this and corp. purchase orders
The T had purchase orders out worth $1.7m for non-sanitizer; PO's are an order and a promise to pay, and companies will start sending what's ordered to a reliable corporate entity based on just that usually.
However, I'm guessing the T only got around to paying $150k in invoices before they figured out it was not sanitizer. Hence, they now get a $150k credit, and that company also gets a $400k penalty for defrauding a government entity and potentially endangering the riding public during a pandemic.
This is an actual product, but not meant for cleaning the T
The science behind this seems a bit sketchy as their website makes you basically prove you are a healthcare provider and then they will send you results of "clinical studies". Basically this is a product to reduce bacteria (like staph and MRSA) on patients that can't wash their wounds. (Over simplification, but close enough.) The active germ-killing ingredient is silver. The fact that most everything I could find touts a lot of claims but offers next to zero evidence suggests that this is not a wonderful product.
Do they claim it does
Do they claim it does anything for viruses?
On the plus side
There are no reported cases of vampires on the T lately.
Not so sure about that
Pretty sure there's still a lot of bloodsuckers working in the downtown and Back Bay areas.
That’s Even Scarier
Sounds like someone at MBTA knowingly selected this product over an alcohol-based sanitizer? Or they outsource the details to such a degree that they don’t know what products they’re buying to keep the T safe in the midst of a pandemic?
Back when sanitizer was impossible to get
March was a time when sanitizer and other essential supplies were difficult to get and our own Federal government was intercepting and confiscating sates’ PPE orders wholesale.
It could be a terrible purchasing decision or it could be a desperate “take what you can get now” decision.
Silver sulfadiazine is an antibiotic
Silver sulfadiazine is an antibiotic. It's found in burn cream. It's not appropriate for covid.
these people
belong in jail
Are you sure?
Article says:
I didn't see anything about criminal charges.
If they're guilty, then, by all means, pursue criminal charges. Otherwise, it looks like there wasn't wrongdoing, and they just wanted to stop paying legal fees.
I think so, too
Not sure why they aren't.
Maybe she figured they wouldn't pay the money if she criminally prosecuted them?
Also,
Worthless sanitizer
Doesn't inspire confidence to ride the rails once again. Does anyone know how many T-employees have tested positive for the virus?
Wait, so not only is nobody
Wait, so not only is nobody being held accountable for endangering the lives of MBTA staff and riders, but the amount they're being charged is... one third of the amount we paid for the product? I guess crime really does pay.
Read some of the other comments.
An explanation has already been proposed.