Washington D.C. [US], June 6 (Sputnik/ANI): A Chinese company was charged for sending nearly 500,000 defective masks to the United States that were misbranded as N95 respirators, the US Justice Department said in a statement.

"A Chinese manufacturer was charged today with producing and exporting to the United States in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic nearly half a million misbranded and defective masks that falsely purported to be N95 respirators," the release said on Friday.

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The company, King Year Packaging and Printing, for each of the four counts faces a fine of up to $500,000 or the total gain and/or loss, whichever is greater, according to the release.

The company was identified and charged due to the efforts of the Justice Department's new COVID-19 Hoarding and Price Gouging Task Force, the release added. (Sputnik/ANI)

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