Response to COVID-19
Since the Governor's declaration, the Attorney General's Office has received over 21,900 calls related to price gouging and scams. Due to the complaints, the Office has currently has between 30 to 35 active investigations pending. Rutledge has also worked with Walmart, Amazon, eBay and Facebook to combat and stop price gouging before it harmed consumers.
Rutledge has allocated $1 million to the State to acquire personal protective equipment for medical personnel and $3 million to the Arkansas Economic Development Commission’s Quick Action Loan Program that has assisted over 172 small businesses. Rutledge has also worked with businesses to bring over 20,000 N95 face masks to vulnerable Arkansans.
For more information on the work of the Office or to file a complaint against businesses or individuals that you believe are price gouging, report it here.
Facilitates 10,000 Face Masks to Arkansas Ambulance Association
Attorney General Rutledge delivered 10,000 face masks to the Arkansas Ambulance Association courtesy of Deloitte. This delivery will ensure our EMTs have the critical Personal Protective Equipment while they perform lifesaving work. Read more.
Rutledge: Lowe’s Allocates 10,000 Face Masks to Arkansans in Nursing Homes and Grocery Store Employees
Attorney General Rutledge announced Lowe's Home Improvement has donated 8,000 masks to the Arkansas Health Care Association and 2,000 masks for the Arkansas Grocers & Retail Merchants Association. As a testing push will go into effect June 1 for nursing homes, these masks ensure nursing home residents and staff have all the resources they need. Read more.
Rutledge Files Lawsuit against Dentist Stealing From Medicaid and Performing Unnecessary Procedures on Children
Arkansas Attorney General Leslie Rutledge filed a lawsuit against Brian C. Moore of Maumelle and Brown-Stingfellow, D.D.S., a dental practice in North Little Rock known as Capital Dental Center, for engaging in a long-running scheme to fraudulently bill the Medicaid program and violating the Arkansas Deceptive Trade Practices Act by performing unnecessary and bogus procedures on susceptible Arkansas children and young adults ages 2 to 21. The dental work was often unnecessary and involved invasive work such as drilling on the children’s teeth. Additionally, in some cases, children who needed dental procedures were seen by Moore who billed Medicaid for the procedures, but the children’s dental work never occured. Read more.
Rutledge Op-ed: Be Their Voice
I wish every child grew up in a loving home as I did, and that every parent would love their child as much as I love mine, but that simply is not the case. My heart is heavy for those victims. The recipe for abuse is currently ripe with toxic ingredients: unemployment, financial and emotional stress, close confinement, and the rambunctious boredom of innocent kids that can unintentionally spark the fury of evil. Read more.
ATTORNEY GENERAL ALERT: Federal Government Sending Prepaid Debit Cards
The U.S. Department of Treasury and the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) announced they have begun to release Economic Impact Payments in the form of prepaid debit cards, instead of the paper checks many were anticipating.
In accordance with the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act, the assigned amount of funds will be placed on prepaid debit cards and sent out to eligible taxpayers. Read more here.
Rutledge on Fox Business Discussing Chinese Disinformation Tactics
Attorney General Rutledge joined Neil Cavuto on Fox Business to discuss the letter she sent to U.S. Congress urging them to investigate China's disinformation tactics that have resulted in over 100,000 American deaths.