Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan used state funds to purchase $9.46 million dollars worth of faulty coronavirus tests from South Korea, according to a local news outlet.
The South Korean company LabGenomics sent the state 500,000 tests in April that were never used due to defects, an investigation released Friday by The Washington Post revealed.
The deal began to take shape in March after Mr. Hogan reportedly asked his Korean-born wife Yumi to join him on a call with Lee Soo-hyuck, the South Korean ambassador to the United States.
After it was determined that the tests were defective, Mr. Hogan allegedly paid the same company $2.5 million for another 500,000 in replacement tests, which worked.
Mr. Hogan’s administration also is said to have paid private processing labs $98 per test, whether it was from LabGenomics, which were provided free of charge, or purchased from Thermo Fischer.
The Maryland Health Department Chief Operating Officer Dennis Schrader told The Post he “didn’t know” why the state paid labs the same amount to process both tests when some tests were free and others came with a price tag.
• Emily Zantow can be reached at ezantow@washingtontimes.com.
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