ATLANTA (AP) — Federal prosecutors say a Georgia businessman is accused of hoarding face masks as the COVID-19 pandemic spread and of price-gouging by selling them for about double what he paid.
U.S. Attorney Byung J. “BJay” Pak said in a news release that Milton Ayimadu was arraigned Thursday on the two charges of violating the Defense Production Act of 1950.
President Donald Trump invoked that law in mid-March to try to overcome shortages in masks, ventilators and other supplies.
Pak says Ayimadu is accused of buying more than 200,000 masks from a foreign country at $2.50 each in early March of selling them for about $5 each from then to May.
