Group Hoarded, Price-Gouged N95 Masks: Ohio AG

CHAGRIN FALLS, OH — A Chagrin Falls man is accused of hoarding N95 respirators and trying to sell the masks for 18 times their retail price, Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost announced Tuesday.

The N95 mask is in high-demand as protective equipment for doctors and nurses treating patients who have contracted the new coronavirus. Gov. Mike DeWine has repeatedly said the state is struggling to acquire these masks for Ohio medical staff.

Yost's office filed a lawsuit against Mario Salwan, of Chagrin Falls, and others for running an online store on eBay, under the name Donkey476, selling N95 respirators. The eBay store was also selling hand sanitizer and toilet paper, according to Yost.

“There’s another word for donkey that immediately comes to mind when thinking about these folks,” Yost said. “We will continue to take action against anyone else in this state price gouging during this pandemic.”

The lawsuit says Salwan and the rest of his group acquired more than 1,200 N95 masks in March. On March 28, the group sold packages of 10 N95 masks at prices ranging from $360 to $375. Prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, the average retail price for one N95 mask was $2.05.

The Donkey476 store on eBay was then discovered by an emergency room nurse and physician who reached out to Salwan and urged him to lower his prices, the lawsuit said. Salwan responded, according to the lawsuit, by saying, “You and your husband should work for free during this crisis, you are greedy!”

Ohio's antitrust law — called the Valentine's Act — gives the attorney general's office the ability to take legal action against anyone who tries to monopolize an Ohio market or restrain trade. Under this legislation, hoarding an item and then trying to resell it at an exuberant price constitutes restraint of trade, Yost's office said.

Yost has filed for injunctive relief to halt sales from the store. He has also asked for a temporary retraining order and preliminary and permanent injunctions against Salwan and the other people who operated the Donkey476 store.

The state is also asking a court to order Donkey476's operators to surrender all of their N95 masks in exchange for reasonable compensation.