Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost today announced the state of Ohio has filed a lawsuit against a Chagrin Falls man for hoarding thousands of N95 masks and selling them at an exorbitant markup during the pandemic crisis.
Mario Salwan and unnamed co-conspirators operated an eBay store under the account name of “Donkey476” where they were hawking 10-packs of N95 masks for more than $350 apiece. At least 15 customers bought the masks at that price, Yost said in a statement, and Salwan had acquired thousands of masks in the past month as the state of Ohio and hospitals struggled with limited PPE supplies.
A healthcare worker brought the posting to the attention of the AG’s office after asking the account to consider a lower price for frontline workers. “You and your husband should work for free during this crisis, you are greedy!” Salwan replied to the nurse.
The 1,700-percent markup, as well as the vast quantities acquired, qualify as violations of Ohio’s Valentine Act (in restraining trade) and Consumer Sales Practices Act (in price gouging during a national emergency), the lawsuit argues.
“There’s another word for donkey that immediately comes to mind when thinking about these folks,” Yost said in a press release. “We will continue to take action against anyone else in this state price gouging during this pandemic.”
A copy of the lawsuit is viewable below. (Users may have to switch to desktop view.)
This article appears in Apr 8-14, 2020.
Good. I can’t imagine being such a low life prick, and apparently eBay’s actually cracking down on these people.
Bainbridge Twp but whatever, realtor must’ve convinced him where he lived.
I would boycott “Garage Finisher”!!!
x
This guy owns “Garage Finisher”. If you are reading this, do NOT do business with him. What a scum bag to stoop to this level? I’m so glad I did not do business with him. He was at my home several years ago. I did not like his demeanor. There are other garage “restoration” companies. If you are considering this service, look to anyone other than “Garage Finisher”. I’m a healthcare worker at CCF, so I really take this seriously.
Is he still building his house in “Bainbridge?”
What is the highest amount that I’m ALLOWED by the government to sell my box of n95 masks?
The coward’s website is down. POS
It didn’t sound like eBay did anything since he had several sales, but they were all in on shutting down sellers “trying to financially profit off the tragic death of Kobe Bryant.” Screw those liberal fucking hypocrites at eBay
@DON’T LIKE THE PRICE, DON’T BUY IT
Hi donkey, why don’t you offer your masks to the Cleveland clinic so the people who will be taking care of you once you get sick stop dying? Kthx. Gfy.
Too bad the masks were purchased in March 2019 for a business that was forced to stop working because of this quarantine. How do people expect small businesses to survive? Pay bills? Bills don’t stop coming. I know this man and yes, he is a business man. He is also the most generous person I know.
Hey Samantha…a lot of people are out of work. 22 million people filed unemployment claims last I checked. A lot of businesses were forced to shut down.
I don’t think “Garage Finisher” is heading over to the Greater Cleveland food bank today to wait in line for a box of food because he is not able to sell a mask for $300+. I’m quite certain he is not living day to day like many servers or bartenders. He’s charging $10k, $20k, and $30k for ONE garage “make over”?! If he was so generous, he would have done the right thing and answered pleas from hospitals to donate masks. Instead, this scum chose to try to profit at the expense of hundreds and thousands of lives in his own community.
You don’t attempt to “survive” by hoarding/selling masks from healthcare workers who are trying to save lives and keep YOUR families safe. That’s not the way to make money. When you do things ethically, you will be taken care of. If not, karma will do it’s job.