A video with thousands of shares and more than 1.5 million views on Facebook claims to show FBI agents seizing masks infected with the novel coronavirus.
The same claims were shared in Facebook posts\xa0here and here., The video was also shared here in Ethiopia, but with the claim that\xa0 “China was caught selling fake masks”., In the clip, FBI agents are seen\xa0loading boxes into a truck. Two minutes and 32 seconds into the footage, the words “3000 series N95” are clearly visible on a box., N95 masks are\xa0surgical face masks widely used by health care workers to protect themselves from COVID-19., The viral post claims the masks,\xa0from China, were contaminated with COVID-19 and sent to Africa., What the video actually shows, The same video had previously surfaced in French with the claim that it showed\xa0the FBI confiscating masks from a synagogue to supply New York hospitals. This was debunked by AFP here., AFP ran reverse image searches using screenshots from the footage and found\xa0this\xa0video published on April 2, 2020, on the YouTube channel of Canadian broadcaster\xa0CTV News. It matches the scene of the video shared in the viral post., The title and the caption of the CTV video reads: “FBI bust man charged for allegedly hoarding masks, selling at 700% mark up.”, The CTV News video identifies the suspect as Baruch Feldheim and says he was arrested at his house in Brooklyn, New York City., According to a\xa0press statement issued by US Department of Justice,\xa0Baruch Feldheim, 43, was arrested on March 30 for allegedly lying about hoarding medical supplies to sell\xa0them at higher prices. It also alleged Feldheim coughed on FBI agents while\xa0claiming he had COVID-19., , Copyright © AFP 2017-2020.  All rights reserved.  Users can access and consult this website and use the share features available for personal, private, and non-commercial purposes.  Any other use, in particular any reproduction, communication to the public or distribution of the content of this website, in whole or in part, for any other purpose and/or by any other means, without a specific licence agreement signed with AFP, is strictly prohibited.  The subject matter depicted or included via links within the Fact Checking content is provided to the extent necessary for correct understanding of the verification of the information concerned.  AFP has not obtained any rights from the authors or copyright owners of this third party content and shall incur no liability in this regard.  AFP and its logo are registered trademarks.
This video shows FBI agents seizing masks from alleged price gouger | AFP Fact Check