Crossing of accusations: "The masks have no legal or known origin," said 3M

Image of a police officer and a citizen with a mask. / C7

Case of the masks

courts

RR7 United alleges that it was scammed by receiving a fake batch, according to 3M. The supplier, who were not approved but the money still does not appear

While the
Anti-Corruption Prosecutor's Office continues to investigate the case of the masks, in which the Canary Health Service (SCS) paid
four million for a shipment that never arrived health professionals, the parties involved in this plot blame each other. On the one hand, the provider
Ihsan Mahmhoud Mohammed together with his friend,
the intermediary Lucas Cruzmaintain that
the product arrived to the island but the problem is that
was not approved for use in Europe. On the other, the company awarded the contract,
RR7 Unitedhas a certification of the 3M brand in which it made it clear that
these masks were not originalproviding an expert report that confirmed it.

Even the document that accompanies this news and to which this newspaper has had access, makes the position of the American company clear and launches a
direct warning to buyers of the FFP3 model 1860 masks: «If this requirement is not met in the manner and within the indicated period -which involved the destruction of the product-, we will be forced to file the corresponding complaint with the dean of the Las Palmas court of instruction, for a
alleged crime against industrial/intellectual propertysince it is the only way to avoid the release of merchandise and the marketing and use of counterfeit masks that are a potential risk to people's health, "determines 3M.

It is signed on March 25, 2021 by the Elzaburu law firm that leads the legal representation of 3M in Spain and is accompanied by a
detailed expert report which confirms that the references of the products that arrived at the Gran Canaria airport at the beginning of that month. In the document, by the way, it is detailed that instead of a million masks, 910,080 specifically arrived.

«After carrying out the corresponding inspection, our client has confirmed, without a doubt, that the aforementioned masks
They are not original 3M brand. and so we have communicated it to the customs itself with the sending of an expert report, ”warned the Elzaburu law firm. In addition, they recorded that "the importation of the aforementioned merchandise" constituted a "
violation of our client's trademark rights»and, in the event of their commercialization and use, «of serious damage to the health of users, since the masks do not have a legal or known origin and therefore pose a very high health risk».

Finally, they urged to "identify the manufacturer, distributor and supplier of the 3M-branded masks contained in the reference issue", to
take legal action against this alleged scam.

Not valid in Europe

On the other hand, the supplier Ihsan Mahmhoud Mohamed argued in his defense that the merchandise was correct, but the problem was that
the ordered product by the SCS and bought by RR7 United SL
was not valid in Europe to the
only have american homologationaccording to the supplier himself.

"The manufacturer -adds Ihsan Mahmhoud- had not approved the product for sale in Europe and, obviously,
whoever did this trap had a plan. How do they request a product that the Spanish Government does not accept and the manufacturer does not certify it for Europe?
that was not legal», warned CANARIAS7.