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COVID-19 Hoarder, Price Gouging, New York 2023
The U.S. Department of Justice is cracking down on price gougers and hoarders in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, announcing the distribution of more than half a million medical supplies seized from a hoarder in New York.
The supplies, including 192,000 N95 respirator masks, 598,000 medical grade gloves, and 130,000 surgical masks, were discovered by the FBI during an enforcement operation by the Department of Justice’s COVID-19 Hoarding and Price Gouging Task Force on March 30.
According to Attorney General William P. Barr, the Department of Justice’s COVID-19 Hoarding and Price Gouging Task Force is working tirelessly around the clock with all law enforcement partners to ensure that bad actors cannot illicitly profit from the COVID-19 pandemic facing our nation.
HHS Secretary Alex Azar added, ‘Cracking down on the hoarding of vital supplies allows us to distribute this material to the heroic healthcare workers on the frontlines who are most in need.’
The seized supplies were distributed in days to the doctors, nurses, and first responders who need them, thanks to the quick work of the White House, the Department of Justice, and HHS.
The Defense Production Act and Presidential Executive Order are intended to prevent accumulation in excess of reasonable demands of business, personal, or home consumption, or for the purpose of resale at prices in excess of prevailing market prices, also known as hoarding and price gouging, of medical supplies critical to the COVID-19 response.
Vendors interested in selling PPE to the federal government should contact the Federal Emergency Management Agency at https://www.fema.gov/coronavirus/how-to-help. Anyone who learns of hoarding or price gouging of PPE should report it to the National Center for Disaster Fraud by dialing 1-866-720-5721 or emailing disaster@leo.gov.
Key Facts
- State: New York
- Category: Fraud & Financial Crimes|Public Corruption
- Source: DOJ Press Release â†â€â€
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