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ARTICLE · 20 OCTOBER 2020

Price Gouging Weekly Round Up - October 12, 2020

Proskauer Rose LLP
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Price gouging enforcement and litigation is front and center for company counsel and business managers nationwide. Our weekly round up highlights some of the most relevant news...

United StatesConsumer Protection
Christopher Ondeck
Christopher Ondeck
John Ingrassia
John Ingrassia
Kelly Landers Hawthorne
Kelly Landers Hawthorne
Nathaniel Miller
Nathaniel Miller
Nicollette R. Moser
Nicollette R. Moser
Jennifer E. Tarr
Jennifer E. Tarr
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Price gouging enforcement and litigation is front and center for company counsel and business managers nationwide. Our weekly round up highlights some of the most relevant news and information to our clients and friends.

Illinois Businessman Charged with Price Gouging Under the Defense Production Act

On October 8, 2020, the U.S. attorney's office for Chicago announced that an Illinois businessman was charged with price gouging protective masks during the height of the pandemic, in violation of the Defense Production Act. The businessman is accused of accumulating about 80,000 masks in March and April for approximately $5 each. The businessman allegedly then sold nearly 40,000 masks to consumers for as high as $19.95 apiece. In a written statement, U.S. Attorney John Lausch stated "[a]massing and reselling personal protective equipment at large markups during a global health crisis is not only greedy, it's illegal under the Defense Production Act." In response to

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