The hoarding scheme of Matt Colvin and Noah Colvin was finally put to an end as the two brothers were officially prohibited from “buying and selling medical goods and products.”
The two greedy siblings’ plot to make a profit from the ongoing coronavirus outbreak took off on March 1, when it was announced that the infection had reached the U.S., and they decided to buy out every antibacterial product they could find.
Apparently, after clearing out several supermarkets and taking an initial financial hit, when they allegedly sold the products for much higher prices, reaching up to 70$ for a bottle of an antibacterial product, the Colvins ended up with around 17,700 hand sanitizers that they could not get rid of.
The Colvin brothers admitted to clearing out multiple supermarkets not only in Tennessee but also in Kentucky, covering around 1,300 miles in total during their trips.
However, it did not take long for authorities to discover the scheme, and soon an investigation was launched into the brothers’ activities after the lamented about eBay and Amazon closing their businesses.
According to Attorney General Herbert H. Slatery III, who issued a statement regarding the hoarding plot earlier this month, price gouging was not going to be tolerated under any circumstances in the current time of exceptional nee.
After their actions were made public, the two brothers were highly criticized by the rest of the public, prompting them to announce on Saturday that they had decided to give away what was remaining of the sanitizing products to people in need via churches.
Samantha Fisher, of the Tennessee Attorney General’s Office, explained: “Most of it has been donated to a local church which will distribute it,” Fisher said. “A smaller portion has been set aside as we work with Kentucky officials.”
Talking to the Times, one of the brothers said this about their brief rise and epic fail: “It’s been a huge amount of whiplash. From being in a situation where what I’ve got coming and going could potentially put my family in a really good place financially to, ‘What the heck am I going to do with all of this?’”
He went on to say: “If by my actions, anyone was directly impacted and unable to get sanitizer because I purchased it all, I am truly sorry for that.”
Kentucky Attorney General Daniel Cameron commented on the scheme by saying, “This is a time where we have to focus on helping our neighbor, not profiting from them.”
Cameron added: “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 brothers are now donating the hand sanitizers.
