This is in conversation from Apple News.
I'm Shemitah Basu.
Today how fraudsters and opportunists profited off the pandemic.
In April of 2020, as COVID 19 was upending the world, reporter David McSwain was getting on a private jet.
The plane had been chartered by a man who'd made a big promise to the US government.
Robert Stewart Jr said he was going to deliver 6 million N95 masks to the Department of Veterans affairs, the VA.
This was at a time when masks were extremely scarce in the US And David wanted to tag along and see how Stewart was going to get them.
As we took off from Dulles International, you know, we're just airborne.
He says, oh, I don't actually have the masks.
They were bought out from under me.
And I asked him, well, why the hell are we going to Chicago to deliver these masks?
He says, well, it's kind of a faith thing.
Stewart had been awarded a 34 and a half million dollar contract from the federal government for these masks, even though he had no experience importing or selling medical supplies.
Back on the plane, Stuart tells David that while he doesn't have the masks right now, he'd been up all night making calls and he had promising new leads.
He describes to me this network of brokers he was working with and how he was going to get these masks.
And he was dealing with what he called buccaneers and pirates.
And it was this sort of sleazy sea of merchants who were involved and he was going to do everything he could.
They eventually land in Chicago where the mask delivery is supposed to take place.
They go to a practically empty hotel because remember, these are the early days of the pandemic.
Stewart's in the lobby making more phone calls.