Brothers told to quit buying supplies in Kentucky to sell during coronavirus outbreak
As state investigators watch for price gouging during the coronavirus outbreak, two brothers suspected of buying large quantities of cleaning and medical supplies in Kentucky and Tennessee have been ordered to stop.
Tennessee Attorney General Herbert Slatery III announced over the weekend that his office was investigating brothers Matt and Noah Colvin, both of Hixon, Tenn.
“This is a time where we have to focus on helping our neighbors, not profiting from them,” said Kentucky Attorney General Daniel Cameron in the announcement. “We’re not going to tolerate selfish actions that put the health of Kentuckians at risk, and I’m grateful for Tennessee Attorney General Herbert Slatery’s partnership in bringing an end to this harmful scheme.”
The New York Times interviewed Matt Colvin, who told the newspaper that he and his brother had gathered up more than 17,700 bottles of hand sanitizer from stores in Tennessee and Kentucky, and sold some of them for prices higher than what they’d paid. Colvin said he’d also bought 2,000 packs of multiple masks and sold those.
After a crackdown by Amazon and other online marketplaces to prevent profiting off a pandemic, the brothers didn’t know what to do with all of the remaining supplies, he told the paper.
Slatery’s investigation was announced after the New York Times story, and after the story was first posted, Matt Colvin said he was looking for ways to donate the supplies, he told the newspaper.
Cameron’s office has asked Kentuckians who see incidents of price gouging during the COVID-19 outbreak to report them through the Consumer Protection Hotline at 888-432-9257.
This story was originally published March 15, 2020 at 2:44 PM.
