Ebay fraud actually gets jail time!!

presleyh

In todays paper was a story about a guy who sold $153,000.00 of trading cards over an 18 month period on Ebay. He didnt deliver any of them. He was caught and sentenced to 18 months in jail plus ordered to pay restitution. I guess crime doesnt always pay.

LucyBop

sounds like this square had several negatives!

merz2

I wonder how many will see their money,and how long will it take.

CLASSICS

whats his name? and where is he from? thanks for the post

lathmach

That works out to over $100,000 a year. I'd say it pays fairly well, unless all the money has been returned. Court ordered restitution is a joke.
I, along with about a dozen others got cheated out of money when we answered a Coin World ad, and sent money to a person who was supposedly selling her late husbands coins.
All I got back was about 5% from the Postal Inspector. The woman got some jail time and was supposed to pay restitution. Not one dime has been paid and she's as free as a bird.

Ray

presleyh

Ok a little more details... from the Chattanooga Times Free Press 11-23-2002...Vernon Derl Bell 48 year old accountant cheated 180 ebay customers out of 153,000.00. pleaded guilty and got a 15 month sentence and ordered to pay restitution. He ran the fraudulent scam from his home computer.

Russ

Wait a minute. This went on for a year and a half and he never shipped anything? He had to have piled up enough negs to get NARU'd far sooner than that. Was he using different handles?

Russ, NCNE

presleyh

It doesnt give his ebay name, He may have used many different names to get that far. It would be nice to look him up on ebay. Anybody got a suggestion for tracking down the ebay name?

CLASSICS

thanks for the information, ebay must have erased his i.d.

DesertLizard

$153k in 18 months? That's pretty good money! Only 18 months in slammer? Say 9mos with good behavior? I wonder if he paid any taxes on his gains?

Crime does pay! I say cut off one of his hands and forbid him to use a computer!!!

presleyh

Someone on the safe harbor message board said this guy sold advance issue trading cards so that he could get a bunch of sales behind him without actually delivering anything. His ebay id was believed to be "touchdowncards." He is naru'ed with 45 positives and o negatives.

MastaHanky

<< $153k in 18 months? That's pretty good money! Only 18 months in slammer? Say 9mos with good behavior? >>

Is $153k worth being Bubba's wife for a year?

(Sing to "God Rest Ye Merry Gentleman"):

A large and hairy gentleman will share a cell with you
And if he wants you for his wife, you better say "I do"
(etc)

oldfox

Unfortunately, the US Attorney is very unlikely to prosecute anyone unless they can add up $100,000 easily proved thievery. It is very hard to find so many victims. If the crook delays and prevaricates and then finally mails empty and possibly unsealed priority mail boxes with proof of delivery, you have little evidence.

Your state enforcement people can't go out of state to help you, but it is good to inform the attorney general of the state where the perp operates and especially important to notify the Postal Inspector. Postal Inspectors learn about these people fast and can try to scare them, but the US Attorney is the stumbling block. They will at least build the file with it.

If you can possibly identify the person, civil lawsuits for larceny, and multiple larcenies makes it RICO, which will get you a judgment against the creep for treble damages, depending on your state law. If you get a money judgment, then you have to try to enforce it, which is the tough part by taking his property, but not his only house, only car or the tools of his trade. You can take his TV, his boat, his toys, and his coins with the help of the Sherrif if you can find them. How much trouble to you want to go to?

I built a website documenting and attempting to warn others and exposing the crook. See it at NiteCrew.com. And I would appreciate any information about Thomas Ruben to this day.

It is quite a disgrace and an outrage. For some reason--though Ruben sent me a letter demanding me to take down the website--he has not found it convenient to initiate a lawsuit for defamation since that would give me the chance to prove it all up in federal court and counter sue for my money.

Terry Seale
sealet at bellsouth dot net

gmarguli

I'd like to know how many complaints did eBay get before they NARUed his account. Knowing them, they sat on thier asses because his credit card was good and they could still collect their fees.