Coin shop owner gets 4 years for defrauding customers out of $1.4 million
dbldie55
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I saw this posted by the Newman Numismatic Portal. Dealer is Blue Moon Coins. Is this the same one that had their ebay listings always being discussed?
Collector and Researcher of Liberty Head Nickels. ANA LM-6053
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Here's an except of what happened. It was a Ponzi scheme. Not sure if it's the same as the eBay store, but they were at bluemooncoins.com.
Karma will always find its way
I always got a chuckle out of Blue Moon's eBay images
This, though, is no laughing matter
"Inspiration exists, but it has to find you working" Pablo Picasso
Who buys gold and silver and doesn't take immediate physical delivery?
The Ebay store was run by someone named Kenny Vilkins if memory is correct. May be the same company but new principals.
Oh damn my memory is good, sometimes:
https://katu.com/news/investigators/vancouver-police-seek-complaints-against-coin-store
Does anybody know if they also sold minor die varieties at shall we say inflated prices?
the ebay handle switched from bluemooncoins to coinssince1994 and are still active
For a "cheaper price" people will believe anything about precious metals.
This happened a few times to dealers on the wholesale network.
Some guy would ..think...he could outwit the futures market and would post "better" buy prices.
Bad stuff.
Oh boy !!!
Another dealer bites the dust.
I wonder how many others are out there scamming away w/o being detected or have pleaded or not convicted or have yet made the headlines
Yo peeps, always use pp or cc to buy anything & everything, period.
I clicked expecting to see how long this guy got:
From ICTA (The Industry Council for Tangible Assets):
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Barry Ron Skog, 68, of Burnsville, Minn., pleaded guilty February 21 to one count of selling counterfeit coins and one count of mail fraud in the United States District Court of Minnesota in St. Paul.
Skog faces a potential maximum sentence of 15 years imprisonment on the count of selling counterfeit coins and a potential of 20 years maximum on the mail fraud count. He also faces fines of up to $250,000 for each count and mandatory restitution in amounts to be determined by the court.
No date has been set for sentencing.
A Minnesota federal grand jury had returned a six-count criminal indictment on April 10, 2018, charging Skog with five counts related to the sale of counterfeit coins and one count of mail fraud. With the plea agreement, the government agreed to dismiss four of the counts related to selling counterfeit coins. According to the plea agreement filed February 21, Skog owned and operated a mail-order business called Burnsville Coin Company, through which he devised a scheme, from June 2012 through October 2015, to advertise and sell counterfeit coins by fraudulently representing that the coins were genuine and worth hundreds of dollars.
The plea agreement describes how through his business Skog posted advertisements in Numismatic News, a nationally circulated hobby publication.
“When potential buyers responded to the advertisements, the defendant often mailed them, via the U.S. Postal Service, lists of additional available coins for purchase,” the plea agreement states. It notes that when Skog communicated with victims, he would often represent himself as “Ron Peterson” and claim to be an employee of the Burnsville Coin Company, when in fact there were no owners or employees of the company other than Skog.
The plea agreement states that Skog sold counterfeit coins to at least 12 separate victims and fraudulently obtained approximately $57,524.29. It notes that he “also intended to create additional loss by advertising for sale 275 additional counterfeit coins at an advertised sale value of approximately $235,000.
The Minnesota Commerce Fraud Bureau and the Burnsville Police Department conducted the investigation that led to Skog’s arrest. Two members of the Anti-Counterfeiting Educational Foundation’s Anti-Counterfeiting Task Force assisted with the investigation. The case was prosecuted by the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Minneapolis.
Collectors Universe won a default judgment against Skog in April 2011 in which a federal court issued an order permanently enjoining Skog from manufacturing and importing counterfeit Professional Coin Grading Service holders. The order also enjoined him from selling any coin, real or counterfeit, in counterfeit PCGS holders. Collectors Universe is the parent firm of the PCGS.
The civil lawsuit was filed on Dec. 7, 2010, in the United States District Court, Central District of California, accusing Skog and his coin business of selling during the previous four years counterfeit rare coins not marked COPY and housed in counterfeit PCGS holders, known as “slabs,” made to order from Chinese manufacturers.
The lawsuit alleged violations of the Hobby Protection Act, the Lanham Act, violation of RICO, common law fraud, conspiracy and violation of California’s unfair competition law. It cited an example of a North Carolina collector who purchased two Seated Liberty dollars dated 1851 and 1858 from Skog in April 2010 for $12,400. The coins and the PCGS holders in which they were encapsulated were determined to be counterfeit.
Some well-regarded dealers well coins at what some would consider inflated prices. There might need to be something more than an inflated price to bring someone in.
You have no idea how many bad guys there are out there. Vilkins was a bad boy years ago.
The PNG does nothing to police these guys-even if they are associated with a PNG member which is disgusting. They say oh, no one has complained. I say open your fat greedy eyes you idiots. Most of us know who the bad guys are here. Its like a few dealers walking around today sold to the Romano brothers (google them) who are now in jail.
We told people close to Hanas Tulving he was ripping off people-and no one wanted to believe us. Well old Hansa finally got his justice....When one goes away, another pops up. I'm surprised we don't make more episodes of American Greed (the Romanos did).
These dirt bags give us such a bad name
That's a good point. We always hear of ICTA and Collectors Universe being involved with bringing these people to justice, but never the PNG.
Vilkins is and has always been the owner of Blue Moon and whatever they are now. Went to their location one time and that was enough for me.
Specialist is right on about her statement about him. After the trouble He just moved his operation north from CA and continued on with his dealings.
Ken
The hobby is a minefield of cons and crooks.... ebay is rife with them.... One must be very cautious, learn before buying and check references. Cheers, RickO
Are there two different Blue Moons? The article in the OP says Blue Moon is owned by Aaron Michael Scott.
Let's hope he makes lots and lots of new friends in prison.
Worry is the interest you pay on a debt you may not owe.
"Paper money eventually returns to its intrinsic value---zero."----Voltaire
"Everything you say should be true, but not everything true should be said."----Voltaire
I stopped in the years ago when I was in Vancouver, WA, I was green (at dealing), so I didn't know much then, he sold me some 1873 no arrows halves, and said down the road, they would be hot!! Course that never happened. But it was Kenny V I met and talked with.
I might add, though, they always seemed to have some good looking girls at least imaged in there sales and listings.
Reminds me of Coinuts in Idaho.
Paper money eventually returns to its intrinsic value. Zero. Voltaire. Ebay coinbowlllc
He should have received more like 10 years, IMO. Four probably really means more like two. Not nearly enough.
Dave
The Porsche and Maserati weren't a clue?
I have been lucky to avoid the biggest crooks that have crossed paths in my life, but close enough to see some real scammers in action during the last financial crisis.
White collar crime is an art form.
Banks can write it off... collectors take a hit emotionally and financially.
BST: KindaNewish (3/21/21), WQuarterFreddie (3/30/21), Meltdown (4/6/21), DBSTrader2 (5/5/21) AKA- unclemonkey on Blow Out
And cannot get soap on a rope.
What amazes me is that people are stupid enough to think they’ll get away with something like that over the long haul.