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Location: Midland, MI | ALBANY, N.Y. - For some, it turned out that fairness in online auctions was going, going, gone. Three cases of phony bidding by sellers to inflate the price of art, sports memorabilia, even a truck sold on the eBay Internet auction site were concluded last week. Three sellers pleaded guilty and five agreed to civil settlements in cases involving victims nationwide.
The use of shill bids in online auctions illegally drives up prices and defrauds consumers, said New York Attorney General Eliot Spitzer, who commended eBay for its help. These cases and continuing efforts to monitor transactions should help maintain the integrity of online auctions.
Just ask Brad Clarke, a 48-year-old roofing contractor from Peachtree City, Ga. More than two years ago, he bought a 1999 Jeep Cherokee sport utility vehicle from a New York seller on eBay for $14,000. Id always been suspicious because it seems like an easy thing to do,
to just keep bidding up, Clarke said. But I was still just completely shocked and very surprised.
He was more surprised when he received a check for restitution for the $3,089 he overpaid. Hes one of 120 consumers so far getting
restitution. Jerrold Schuster, the former owner of the New Windsor Auction Gallery in Orange County, pleaded guilty to a felony involving restraint of trade Spitzer said. The antitrust law felony carries a maximum penalty of four years in prison. Schusters former employees, Darek Szydlowski and Francis Komsisky Jr., pleaded to misdemeanors of attempted restraint of trade. Schuster is expected to pay $50,000 in restitution and fines as part of the upcoming sentencings. Schuster, Szydlowski and Komsisky were accused of bidding on more than 1,100 of each others eBay items over five years to drive up the prices.
Schusters New Windsor Gallery unfairly drove up the price of an oil painting by more than $7,300 and another paintings price was $2,800 more than it should have sold for, Spitzer said. In the civil settlement, Robert Baranovich and his son, Steven Baranovich, of West Babylon in Suffolk County agreed to pay $10,000 in penalties and restitution, Spitzer said. The Baranoviches were accused of making 170 phony eBay bids on 165 of their sports memorabilia items. In a separate civil case, Richard Eggleston, Darryl Lien and David Printy and the Daryl Lien company agreed to pay a total of more than $28,000 in penalties and restitution, Spitzer said. They were accused of making 610 bids on 106 of their own automobile auctions under the user name Mothers Custom Automotive NY Dealer. Lawyers for each declined comment or didnt respond to requests for comment.
One thing this shows is that it kind of dispels the myth that if you are defrauding people online, youre safe, said Kenneth Dreifach, chief
of the Internet Bureau in the state attorney generals office. Im sure perpetrators thought they wouldnt get caught because they falsely
believed their identifies and practices were hidden by cyberspace. In fact, everything they did left electronic footprints ... there was
greater exposure than in off-line auctions.
I was very happy, very pleased ... that someone is monitoring these things, keeping people honest, Clarke said. |
OT: AP reporting crackdown on eBay sellers committing fraud
