New York Investigating Price Gouging in Wake of Hurricane – $7 Bread, $10 Matches?

Perhaps the most inhumane crime is to take advantage of others in times of crisis.New York authorities are investigating over 400 reported incidents of price gouging on items such as gas, bread and matches! One report showed a bag of potatoes, which sold for $3.00 before Hurricane Sandy hit, now at $7.00. Another report detailed a loaf of bread going for $7.00 and even a box of matches priced at $10.00!

The New York Attorney General's office is prepared, and has already begun, to file charges against some businesses for the gouging. And they've shown in the past it can and will be done. When Tropical Storm Irene hit the East Coast last summer, one gas station on Long Island was fined $3,000 for raising their per-gallon price $.84 after the storm struck!

Thousands of people are still without power in the Staten Island area, and other pockets throughout the New York area. As many as 30-40,000 residents still have to be relocated after their homes suffered enough damage to make them inhabitable.