The pair — Mike Gula from Washington, D.C., and John Thomas of Southern California — had vowed, in their words , to help “fight Covid-19 with the industry’s broadest product selection from hundreds of suppliers.” of health care” and the founder and chairman of Great Health Companion Group.The company’s pitch — which was accompanied by an endorsement from a well-connected Chinese businessman who is an associate of Mr. Thomas’s — struck a chord with government agencies scrambling to obtain lifesaving supplies as the severity of the pandemic was becoming apparent.But things have not gone as planned.In an April 22 email intended to allay concerns of Melbourne police contracting officials, Marc T. Serrio, Blue Flame’s chief financial officer, wrote, “As you may have seen in the news, there have been significant disruptions in the supply chain coming out of China, and unfortunately we are not immune.”While Blue Flame had incorporated just two days before Ms. Milford had sent the email, she called the company “a prominent aggregator” of “masks, travel kits, Covid-19 test kits and personal protective equipment important to the coronavirus response.”He apologized for the delay and explained that the company would refund the department for some purchases.“At this point, if you do not refund the City of Melbourne this money, I will consider it theft/fraud, and move this to a different direction,” Commander Lynch wrote in the email, which was obtained under open records laws.State and local agencies “were in a very difficult position, trying to vet companies that were nontraditional suppliers or third parties,” while at the same time “scrambling and quite frankly competing with each other to get access to either stockpiles or a reliable supply chain,” said Louis Grever, the executive director of the Association of State Criminal Investigative Agencies.After circulating the inventory list, Mr. Grever said, he almost immediately received inquiries from local and state law enforcement agencies in Arkansas and Florida interested in doing business with Blue Flame, and referred them to Ms. Milford, who served as a liaison to Blue Flame.“There was some real fear here about whether or not these third-party vendors and suppliers were legitimate, whether or not they truly had access,” Mr. Grever said.Blue Flame promised customers it could deliver “volume orders” within “seven to 12 days after the initial order is placed,” according to the pitch deck.Mr. Bearman, Blue Flame’s lawyer, had issued a statement to The Times earlier in the week saying the company “fully intends to honor” the Maryland contract, and “is devoted to getting masks and ventilators to the people in Maryland who so desperately need them.”“Clearly this hindered our ability to get necessary personal protective equipment to our personnel in a timely manner,” Mr. Claycomb said.Orders came in from state governments, local police departments and airports in California, Florida and Maryland, according to interviews and documents.But the engineer had not been vetted, and did not deliver a single ventilator.
A congressional oversight panel said it would conduct a probe of a Blue Flame Medical after several states canceled contracts with the coronavirus-supply company founded by a former GOP fundraiser. Can you please check on it and ensure it is completed quickly?” Natalie Gonzalez wrote.But he referred questions about why California placed the order with Blue Flame and why the deal fell apart to the Department of General Services, which has not responded to multiple interview requests.Keep tabs on the latest California policy and politics news“Due to the life or death nature of the nationwide PPE shortage, we are concerned Blue Flame is indicative of a potentially growing trend,” Porter wrote.“After a very eventful morning with the Blue Flame purchase, we are no longer moving forward with this vendor.”Rivera confirmed in an interview with CalMatters that California’s state treasurer got the money back. The Registered Agent on file for this company is A Registered Agent, Inc. and is located at 8 The Green, Ste A, Dover, DE 19901. Blue Flame Medical, a medical supply and healthcare logistics company, filed suit today against Chain Bridge Bank, N.A. supplier to agencies who would perform their own due diligence.”In an email, Ms. Milford suggested Blue Flame misled her about its capabilities.
The state ordered 100 million N95 masks from Blue Flame, and its $456.9 million payment amounted to a 75% deposit on the total bill, said Andre Rivera, a deputy director at the state Treasurer’s Office.Blue Flame’s attorney, Ethan Bearman of Los Angeles, said today he had no information about the California situation but criticized Maryland’s actions.