Posted on 05/10/2017 10:51:14 AM PDT by nickcarraway
Prosecutors are calling on all victims to come forward
Prosecutors are working to uncover the breadth of a fake gold bar scam allegedly carried out by two Bend teenagers, which investigators say included selling fake Rolex watches on eBay.
Deschutes County District Attorney John Hummel is asking for all victims of the scam to come forward.
“Right now I am doing a big push to identify every victim and total the financial damages,” he said.
Robert Yelas Jr. and Caleb Knight, both 17, were arrested March 21 after police say they made nearly $60,000 from selling fraudulent 1-ounce gold bars. Yelas allegedly purchased the bars from online retailer aliexpress.com, a Chinese e-commerce site, and sold them to locals on craigslist.org. When confronted by the Bend Police Department, Yelas confessed to orchestrating and profiting from the scheme and using Knight as a middleman to not get caught, court documents show.
While the gold bar scam claimed several victims, no one was more affected than Bill Fleming, of Bend, who is out $44,500. Fleming, who owns a coin shop, never actually purchased the bars from Yelas or Knight, but rather bought them from Craig Boatman, a Bend customer with whom he had done business for many years.
Fleming said he purchased a total of 35 of the fake bars from Boatman, who had purchased them from Knight. Both transactions were set up by Yelas. By the time Fleming realized they were copper and plated with about $1 worth of gold, he had already sold a total of 20 to three customers.
Fleming said he was relieved when he found out Bend Police Detective Josh Spano had made arrests in the case.
(Excerpt) Read more at bendbulletin.com ...
Except minors are probably off the hook due to age.
You can’t cheat an honest man.
Copper weighs NOTHING like gold.
Like a pyramid scheme, it worked until the last guy caught on. They coin dealer was the one who SHOULD have known, and probably did. But, when HIS customers caught on, he jumped on the bandwagon.
They are being named, so I assume they are being charged as adults. I approve of locking them up the same as if they were a year older.
Real Rolex sweep. Fake Rolex tick.
“By the time Fleming realized they were copper and plated with about $1 worth of gold, he had already sold a total of 20 to three customers.”
Yeah, right.
Who is dumb enough to buy a fake Rolex and not know it is fake?
When I buy silver, I whey it...
Guy I buy from thinks its funny....
Was the “gold” underweight or oversized to get to one ounce? They should have at least used tungsten.
I think the “copper” is a mistake.
Fake gold bars are typically filled with tungsten. Which is only 0.3% different from gold.
Damn near impossible to detect without cutting or electronic testing
Yep. And the band has actual screws to remove, not posts you tap out to adjust the band.
The band also has the over size mechanism for diving, like an Omega.
A few other ways to tell but, they are different for each watch.
The stamping will also be crisp in the metal and the elements of the face will all align exactly.
When shaking the watch a genuine will not have any clicking as the engine is screwed tight and precisely to the internal.
A fake merely sits in the internal box and will bounce off the sides, creating noise.
Well, putting cottage cheese on your silver can get kinda messy on his counter..................
“Who is dumb enough to buy a fake Rolex and not know it is fake?”
There are some very impressive fakes out there as well as the obvious ones. They call them ‘homages’ I think, and they are sold as such. They are sometimes passed off as real to an uninformed buyer. If you are buying a Rolex, Omega, Panarai, etc., best to pony up any buy from an authorized dealer rather than save a few bucks and always wonder if it’s real.
A real eureka moment.
Zactly....
Did they advertise themselves as Nigerian Princes?
South Korea and Middle east vendors lesson .....:o)
Lots of old happy girlfriends running around with green wrists back in the day.
20$ for a gold day date ladies rolex back then. Great stocking stuffers.
Now you’ve got me worried. I sure hope my Casio isn’t a fake.
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