A new lawsuit claims Florida's Division of Emergency Management never paid a private contractor for hundreds of thousands of COVID-19 testing kits, the Orlando Sentinel is reporting.
In the suit filed Thursday, the private contractor claimed to be owed $4.4 million.
The suit alleges the emergency management division had first agreed to buy 200,000 COVID-19 viral sample collection kits from Essential L Diagnostic LLC., for $2.2 million through an agent, Global Innovative Concepts. Payment was to have been made within 45 days of delivery, the newspaper said.
But according to the lawsuit, Jared Moskowitz, then director of the emergency management division, asked for more test kits from Global. Global agreed to provide 400,000 more kits for $4.4 million. The suit claimed the state had to pay half of the money up front and the rest of it within 45 days of delivery.
The emergency management division issued a check for $2.2 million in April 2020, but then notified the company it wouldn’t pay the additional for 400,000 kits until they all were delivered.
"Everyone, from individuals to the smallest of small businesses to the largest of entities like the state of Florida, is bound to honor the contracts they sign," said a statement by attorneys John Morgan and Thomas Cargill.
"Our client expended considerable resources and effort to fulfill two huge COVID-19 test orders during a time when those critically needed tests were in short supply. … We are ready to fight to compel the Department of Emergency Management to uphold their end of the bargain."
The newspaper noted that neither the Division of Emergency Management nor Moskowitz responded to requests for comment.
Moskowitz, who stepped down as director, is currently running as a Democrat for the congressional seat being vacated by Rep. Ted Deutch, D-Fla.
Jeffrey Rodack ✉
Jeffrey Rodack, who has nearly a half century in news as a senior editor and city editor for national and local publications, has covered politics for Newsmax for nearly seven years.
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