Phoenix man sentenced for importing counterfeit N95 masks from Asia following HSI Phoenix investigation

PHOENIX, Ariz. – Last month, a local area man was sentenced to one year of probation and ordered to pay restitution, to include $8,028 in unpaid taxes and tariffs to customs authorities for his involvement in importing counterfeit N95 masks from Asia following an investigation by Homeland Security Investigations (HSI).

Mark Forrest Cohn, 68, of Chandler, Arizona, was sentenced on Dec. 21, 2022, by United States District Judge David G. Campbell; Cohn pleaded guilty to one felony count of Entry of Goods by Means of False Statements.

On Oct. 29, 2020, Cohn fraudulently imported counterfeit 3M manufactured N95 masks into the United States from China using shipping labels and papers that falsely represented the merchandise. The false representations disguised the merchandise as goods not subject to duties and inspection by the United States Food and Drug Administration. Once the shipment arrived at a Phoenix mail facility, a box imported by Custom Glass and Synthetic was targeted for inspection as part of an enforcement operation conducted HSI and Customs and Border Protection (CBP) Office of Field Operations officers. When the box was opened, HSI and CBP officers found masks branded as 3M with pixelated photos on the packaging. Working together, HSI and CBP officers scanned and transmitted images of the shipment of purported N95 masks to 3M. On Nov. 3, 2020, officials with 3M advised the N95 masks were in fact counterfeit. Counterfeits create risks to the user because the seals can be ill-fitting and the masks less effective.

On Nov. 23, 2020, Department of Veterans Affairs Office of Inspector General agents and a 3M representative inspected the masks located at a Veterans Affairs Medical Center (VAMC) warehouse in Minneapolis, Minnesota. The counterfeit masks were identified and seized before they made their way to front line workers.

The N95 mask is designed for health care workers as the fit and seal minimize the transference of COVID. Cohn sold over 20,000 masks to a third-party vendor that supplied equipment to the VAMC warehouse in Minnesota. The third-party vendor did not know that the masks were counterfeit.

CBP’s Office of Field Operations and the Department of Veterans Affairs Office of Inspector General assisted HSI in this investigation. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Kristen Brook and Peter Sexton, District of Arizona, Phoenix, handled the prosecution.

HSI launched Operation Stolen Promise in April 2020 to protect the Homeland from the increasing and evolving threat posed by COVID-19-related fraud and criminal activity. As of Feb. 9, 2020, the agency has seized more than $33 million in illicit proceeds; made 225 arrests; executed 206 search warrants and analyzed more than 74,000 COVID-19 domain names. For its role in the operation, C3 applies technological, operational and criminal investigative expertise, products and services to target the criminals and organizations attempting to commit cybercrimes and exploitation related to COVID-19.

HSI is a directorate of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and the principal investigative arm of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), responsible for investigating transnational crime and threats, specifically those criminal organizations that exploit the global infrastructure through which international trade, travel, and finance move. HSI’s workforce of over 10,400 employees consists of more than 6,800 special agents assigned to 225 cities throughout the United States, and 93 overseas locations in 56 countries. HSI’s international presence represents DHS’s largest investigative law enforcement presence abroad and one of the largest international footprints in U.S. law enforcement.