Ohio's Attorney General, Dave Yost, has filed a lawsuit against Mario F. Salwan, a resident of Chagrin Falls, Ohio, and his co-conspirators for "allegedly hoarding N95 respirator masks and selling them online for nearly 18 times the retail price," according to several local news reports, including 21WFMJ and WKYC Studios.

Mario and his team allegedly operated an eBay store called “Donkey476,” which is now defunct, but 21WFMJ has a screenshot of a package of masks for sale. According to the article: “Beginning on March 28, Donkey476 sold packages of 10 N95 masks to 15 purchasers at prices ranging from $360 to $375 – with the prices averaging $363.43, or $36.34 per mask. Prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, the average retail price was $2.05 per mask.”

The Attorney General said that the group “ramped up operations” in March by acquiring 1,200 N95 masks. According to the lawsuit, the group also acquired toilet paper and hand sanitizer.

According to the article, an emergency room nurse, whose husband is an emergency room physician, had reached out to Mario to ask him to reconsider the price. His reply, according to the article: “You and your husband should work for free during this crisis, you are greedy!”

Included in the attorney general’s lawsuit filing was this observation: “There’s another word for donkey that immediately comes to mind when thinking about these folks,” Yost said.

Why Can Ohio Sue For Price Gouging?

Ohio has legislation called the Valentine Anti-Trust Act. This act came about in 1898, after a government investigation of Ohio's coal, insurance, railroad, and oil industries, and other business types. The investigation revealed price fixing to increase profits. ”The Valentine Anti-Trust Act prohibited price fixing, production limitation, and controlled sales,” according to Ohio History Connection.

According to the article: “The Valentine Act, Ohio’s antitrust law, gives the Attorney General’s office broad powers to protect the public and foster fair and honest interstate and intrastate competition by instituting actions against those who conspire to restrain trade and commerce or monopolize markets in Ohio. The hoarding of an item and the related increase in prices of that item constitute an unreasonable and unlawful restraint of trade, a violation of the Valentine Act.”

The attorney general “seeks injunctive and other equitable relief – including but not limited to a temporary restraining order – and preliminary and permanent injunctions as well as statutory civil forfeiture,” according to 21WFMJ. The state is also asking Mario to surrender all N95 masks for “reasonable compensation.”