NORTH HOLLYWOOD : Merchant Fined for Price Gouging
A North Hollywood man was ordered to pay $7,000 after he was convicted of price gouging as manager of a 7-Eleven store after the Northridge earthquake, authorities said.
Mohiuddin Chowdhury, 36, pleaded no contest in Van Nuys Municipal Court to price-gouging charges and was ordered to pay $2,700 in fines and penalties and make a $4,300 donation to the American Red Cross Disaster Relief Fund, said Los Angeles Deputy City Atty. Don Kass.
Chowdhury also was placed on two years probation, he said.
Investigators said customers of the Studio City 7-Eleven that Chowdhury managed after last year’s temblor filed complaints that he increased the price of ice, batteries, bottled water, milk and charcoal.
In Los Angeles, it is a misdemeanor to raise prices on consumer food items, repair and reconstruction services, emergency and medical supplies and gasoline by more than 10% above the price that was charged immediately prior to the declaration of a state of emergency.
The law making price gouging a crime after disasters was drafted by the city attorney’s consumer protection unit and adopted by the City Council after the 1992 Los Angeles riots.
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