Winnetka man found guilty of price gouging masks during COVID-19 pandemic

WINNETKA, Ill. - A Winnetka man was convicted on Thursday of price gouging customers who were looking to purchase N95 masks during the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020.

As the owner of the medical supply company Concord Health Supply in Skokie, 62-year-old Krikor Topouzian had accumulated around 76,160 respirator masks and charged an estimate of $5.08 per mask in March and April 2020, according to officials.

Topouzian later sold the masks for as high as $19.95 – a markup of approximately 185 percent to 367 percent per mask. He continued to engaged in the price gouging despite repeated warnings from law enforcement, officials said.

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Prosecutors say the court found that during the earliest days of the pandemic, Topouzian was told his prices were too high by friends and family. He responded by saying, "Who is going to report me?. . .  I’ve already been threatened by so many people that they’re going to call the FBI."

Topouzian also asked a relative to recruit friends to write fictitious online reviews complimentary of his company because of negative online reviews, officials said.

Additionally, prosecutors say the court found him boasting about how much profit he had made. A text message read, "You can’t imagine my business. $50-80,000 a day, I did $1 million in the last couple weeks."

Topouzian faces up to one year in federal prison. He will be sentenced on Oct. 10, 2023.