Federal investigators based in Baton Rouge assisted in the case against an Atlanta man who allegedly schemed to sell the Department of Veteran Affairs 125 million respirator masks that authorities say he neither had nor could produce.

Christopher Parris, 39, was arrested Friday on a count of wire fraud, according to the U.S. Justice Department.

Parris, hoping to exploit the need for personal protective equipment during the coronavirus pandemic, tried to arrange the sale of the masks for $750 million, authorities said.

Parris told businesses that he could obtain millions of 3M-manufactured masks from American factories, orders that federal investigators say he had no way of fulfilling.

Stolen N95 masks returned to New Orleans Convention Center coronavirus hospital Eighty N95 respirator masks meant to protect staffers at a makeshift hospital for recovering coronavirus patients in New Orleans’ Ernest N. Mo…

He made the misrepresentations to an unnamed Louisiana-based company that sold industrial safety supplies, according to the New York Times. That company was seeking to make a deal with Veterans Affairs.

Parris said he could supply the company with the equipment in exchange for large upfront payments, federal authorities said.

Parris made similar false representations to other companies in order to enter into agreements to sell protective equipment to state governments as well, the Justice Department said.

Parris was arrested and detained in Georgia. He will be extradited to the District of Columbia. If convicted, Parris could be ordered to serve a maximum sentence of 20 years and be fined up to $250,000.

The case was investigated by agents with Homeland Security Investigations New Orleans' Baton Rouge office and The Department of Veterans Affairs Office of the Inspector General.