Editing Price gouging (section)

==== Personal protective equipment ====

A Mississippi businessman purchased scarce [[personal protective equipment]] (PPE) including gowns, face shields, and masks through his pharmaceutical wholesale company. An indictment alleges that the business then solicited health care providers, including the U.S. Veteran's Association, to purchase the PPE at excessively inflated prices as part of a $1.8&nbsp;million scheme. This case was investigated by the FBI, Veteran's Association, and Fraud Section of the United States Department of Justice. The charges brought were conspiracy to commit wire fraud and mail fraud, conspiracy to defraud the United States, conspiracy to commit hoarding of designated scarce materials, and hoarding of designated scarce materials.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2021-01-28 |title=Mississippi businessman accused in scheme to hoard PPE |url=https://apnews.com/ed7ab64c4c7d4e970df7ee498d30060b |access-date=2024-08-26 |website=AP News |language=en-US}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |date=January 27, 2021 |title=Businessman Charged in Scheme to Hoard Personal Protective Equipment and Price Gouge Health Care Providers |url=https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/businessman-charged-scheme-hoard-personal-protective-equipment-and-price-gouge-health-care |website=[[U.S. Department of Justice]]}}</ref>{{Update needed|date=August 2024}}