L.A. Man Gets 3-Year Sentence in eBay Fraud Case
Quote:
Fri June 13, 2003 06:23 PM ET
LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - A Los Angeles man who perpetrated one of the largest Internet auction frauds on eBay was ordered on Friday to spend three years working by day and spending his nights in prison to pay back those he defrauded.
Chris Chong Kim, 28, will spend his nights at a California prison and his days working to repay some of the $600,000 he took from customers who ordered computers from him but never received them, a district attorney's spokeswoman said.
"Part of the pay he earns will pay for his upkeep and he has to also pay all the victims back in three years," district attorney's spokeswoman Jane Robison said. Robison said it was not clear what type of work Kim will do.
An eBay Inc. EBAY.O spokesman applauded efforts by law enforcement officials to bring Kim to justice. "Our cooperative efforts have put a criminal behind bars and will repay eBay users," eBay spokesman Kevin Pursglove said.
More than 170 people worldwide registered complaints against Kim and his company, Calvin Auctions, with the Internet Fraud Complaint Center, prosecutors said.
At his sentencing, Kim turned over 81 checks totaling $100,000 that will go toward repaying the $180,000 he owes to 80 of his victims. He also owes money to Bank of America BAC.N and PayPal, the Internet payment service provider, Deputy District Attorney Jonathan Fairtlough said.
PayPal, which is owned by Ebay, paid $370,000 to reimburse Kim's customers for the laptops, computers and other equipment they purchased but did not receive. Bank of America, which maintained Kim's bank accounts, lost nearly $30,000 in bounced checks, Robison said.
Fairtlough said Kim ran a legitimate, high-end computer sales company for about two years, but stopped shipping merchandise in April 2002. CalvinAuctions.com was shut down last July, at the end of a probe by the Southern California High Tech Task Force. Kim was arrested last December.
Fri June 13, 2003 06:23 PM ET
LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - A Los Angeles man who perpetrated one of the largest Internet auction frauds on eBay was ordered on Friday to spend three years working by day and spending his nights in prison to pay back those he defrauded.
Chris Chong Kim, 28, will spend his nights at a California prison and his days working to repay some of the $600,000 he took from customers who ordered computers from him but never received them, a district attorney's spokeswoman said.
"Part of the pay he earns will pay for his upkeep and he has to also pay all the victims back in three years," district attorney's spokeswoman Jane Robison said. Robison said it was not clear what type of work Kim will do.
An eBay Inc. EBAY.O spokesman applauded efforts by law enforcement officials to bring Kim to justice. "Our cooperative efforts have put a criminal behind bars and will repay eBay users," eBay spokesman Kevin Pursglove said.
More than 170 people worldwide registered complaints against Kim and his company, Calvin Auctions, with the Internet Fraud Complaint Center, prosecutors said.
At his sentencing, Kim turned over 81 checks totaling $100,000 that will go toward repaying the $180,000 he owes to 80 of his victims. He also owes money to Bank of America BAC.N and PayPal, the Internet payment service provider, Deputy District Attorney Jonathan Fairtlough said.
PayPal, which is owned by Ebay, paid $370,000 to reimburse Kim's customers for the laptops, computers and other equipment they purchased but did not receive. Bank of America, which maintained Kim's bank accounts, lost nearly $30,000 in bounced checks, Robison said.
Fairtlough said Kim ran a legitimate, high-end computer sales company for about two years, but stopped shipping merchandise in April 2002. CalvinAuctions.com was shut down last July, at the end of a probe by the Southern California High Tech Task Force. Kim was arrested last December.
http://www.reuters.com/newsArticle.j...toryID=2927933
So... now finally over 4000 posts... don't really know if I should be happy or if I should cry... whatever.
So, Murbot, looks like you playing eBay 'Cop' has finally brought someone in jail.
I'm glad that this happened. Now the Scum knows that we don't just play games anymore...
HipHipHurray!
Comments
It's hilarious - the whole first page is filled with negative feedback, and he has an excuse for every one of them! It's almost too bad they shut him down before they all could leave feedback.
Yeah, it's fun to see the scum get sucked down the drain.