Source: http://www.crazydaysandnights.net

The very rich network reality star undercut his own argument with his response to an accusation of price gouging.

Now, he is going to have to even more explaining and just looks worse for him moving forward.

Daymond John
CEO of the Shark Group and one of the stars of the popular TV show Shark Tank”

Shark Tank investor among those who tried to sell N95 masks at a high price to state

The price would have been one of the highest the state would agree to pay for the highly coveted N95 protective mask: $7 a piece for 1 million masks.

The source of the offer had cachet and seemed legit. He was Daymond John, CEO of the Shark Group and one of the stars of the popular TV show “Shark Tank.” He said he could get them for Florida but the cost would be more than three times the market price for the masks, which normally sell for under $2 each.

Deals had been falling through for weeks and Jared Moskowitz, director of the Florida Department of Emergency Management, decided the state would pay any price to get them into the hands of desperate healthcare workers in COVID-19 hot zones in Florida.

“This was not somebody off the street, this was Daymond John,’’ Moskowitz said. “He came to me and said, ‘I’ve been in the clothing business. I have connections with factories in China.’ ”

But instead of signing a purchase order with the vendor, the state signed a purchase order for an escrow agreement March 25 with the law firm that was to handle the transaction, Foley & Lardner.

The unusual arrangement said the state would agree to pay $7 million to the Shark Group, and put the money into an escrow account handled by the law firm. Also signing the deal was Joe Jacquot, the governor’s general counsel, who came to work for Gov. Ron DeSantis after four years as a partner at Foley & Lardner.

It’s another example of how, in the frenzied rush to feed the demand for the supplies the state never expected it would need, Florida officials waived all the contracting rules and opened an unlimited checkbook to line up middlemen and unconventional vendors.

Also named on the deal, which was signed by Moskowitz and John, was Jared Rosenstein, Moskowitz’s legislative affairs director and former legislative aide, Morri Chowaiki, executive vice president for the Shark Group, Larry Fox of the Shark Group, and Kevin Hyde of Foley & Lardner. Attempts to reach Chowaiki of the Shark Group were unsuccessful.

Despite all the high-profile signatures, the $7 million no-bid offer they all agreed to fell through on April 13. – Source

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