Jack Reuben ran electronics company Bdirect but secured $110m in taxpayer-funded contracts to supply virtually useless COVID masks. He then went on a massive buying spree on Sydney waterfront property…

A Sydney businessman received up to $110 million from the government during the Covid pandemic to import gowns and masks, most of which were useless, before spending millions on waterfront property.

Jack Reuben, 43, runs a relatively unknown online company called Australian Business Mobile (ABM), also known as BDirect, which ships electronics and household goods to consumers and has 1.5 stars out of five on Product Review.

But when the pandemic began in early 2020, Reuben’s company was contracted by the federal health department to import 50 million surgical masks into the country.

ABM then paid a company called Neumer Holdings (owned by two Australian brothers, but based in Cyprus) nearly $60 million for the masks, which Neumer Holdings then purchased from a supplier in China for $33 million.

Neumer Holdings made $12.7 million in profit on the masks, while Reuben’s company charged the government $11 million more than it paid for the masks, according to the Australian Financial Review.

In June 2020, ABM signed another deal with the health department worth $42 million for the delivery of four million isolation gowns. Similar deals were concluded with a Cypriot company, which ultimately meant that ABM pocketed around $7.5 million.

It can now be revealed that Mr Reuben spent around $15 million on three properties in Sydney’s eastern suburbs in 2021, a year after the deals were made, adding to his existing $10 million portfolio.

Around the same time, he was filmed pushing and harassing the host of A Current Affair, shouting “5ft!” during an episode about a cosmetic surgeon who had nothing to do with him.

Of the 50 million masks ordered from Chinese companies, 45.7 million were deemed non-compliant and the National Medical Reserve Fund decided not to distribute them. There is no indication that Reuben and Neumer Holdings were aware of these problems.

The surgical gowns had no defects.

According to property records, Mr Reuben and his family purchased two Bondi apartments in April 2021 for $3.95 million, including a three-bedroom unit overlooking the beach.

That same month, she began bidding on a house in Dover Heights overlooking the Opera House for $9 million. Her top bid was $10.25 million, but she lost out to another couple.

In September 2021, a further $10.5 million was spent on a Dover Heights mansion with seven bedrooms, nine bathrooms, a sauna, cinema, swimming pool, enough parking for seven cars and views of Sydney Harbour.

His family also owns a five-bedroom house with a pool on Beach Road in North Bondi since 2014. The property cost $2.9 million at the time, but is now worth around $5 million.

The Reuben family has owned another five-bedroom house in Bondi Beach since 2009. At the time it was priced at $1.9 million and is now worth around $5 million.

Records indicate the property rents for $2,400 per week.

The Australian Government’s Department of Health and Aged Care confirmed the $109 million deal to Daily Mail Australia.

A spokesman said there was a shortage of PPE and the government had signed supply deals to support the Covid response, including a deal with ABM.

“The risk profile of this procurement was considered low to medium as ABM does not normally supply PPE and may not have been able to secure supplies of surgical masks due to the global shortage,” the department said.

‘As ABM was a high-volume distributor of general merchandise, it was assessed that ABM would have the connections and capacity to move large volumes of PPE.’

Just months after spending millions on property in the eastern suburbs, Mr Reuben accidentally found five minutes of fame when he became the focus of a segment on Channel Nine’s A Current Affair.

Presenter Steve Marshall had attempted to approach cosmetic surgeon Dr Daniel Aronov, also known as the “dancing doctor” on TikTok, at a bagel shop in Bondi to discuss his surgical practices.

However, Mr Reuben stepped in and became an impromptu bouncer, preventing the television crew from interrupting Dr Aronov’s breakfast with his wife.

With his hand in Marshall’s face, the father of two began shouting “Stay 1.5!”, promoting the day’s Covid social distancing measures.

“Get out of my sight, stay five feet away, you like to get in people’s faces, go away,” he continued, pushing and elbowing the host.

Weeks later, the show aired a segment based entirely on Reuben and his home goods and electronics delivery business, BDirect, which had been charging customers roughly five times more than its competitors for the same products.

Marshall intercepted Reuben in the middle of a private pilates class at a Bondi park. The host was holding an air fryer that normally sold for $115, but BDirect was charging customers $599.

Asked why he became aggressive during Dr Dan’s segment, Mr Reuben quickly distanced himself from the controversial surgeon, acknowledging they were friends on Facebook and adding: “I’m friends with a lot of people on Facebook.”

“I know him, but I’m not his friend, I don’t support him,” he said.

When Marshall asked him about the overpriced items on BDirect, Mr Reuben changed the subject and apologised for his assault weeks earlier.

“I behaved like a goose,” he said.

‘I felt ashamed of my behavior and I’m so sorry, I didn’t know how to communicate with you.

“I lost my temper and have received nothing but criticism from everyone in the community ever since.”

He then promised to discount the items on his website.

At the time, BDirect had an average rating of 1.4 stars out of five on Product Review. By August 2024, it had risen to 1.5 stars.

However, there is now a warning on the page that says: ‘We have detected a number of positive reviews for this listing that we suspect have been falsely generated and have the potential to mislead consumers.’

Mr Reuben declined to comment when contacted by Daily Mail Australia.