Sham Candy Vending
The US Attorney General of Minnesota reports on a Candy Vending Business Opportunity Fraud(application/pdf Object)
"A fourth defendant, who was arrested yesterday in Florida, was recently added to a federal indictment and charged in connection to a sham candy vending machine business that allegedly defrauded investors of more than $320,000.Scott A. Burch, 38, Wellington, Fla., was charged Jan. 23 with one count of conspiracy to commit mail fraud, nine counts of mail fraud, one count of conspiracy to commit money laundering and 15 counts of concealment money laundering.
He joins Stephen C. Crown, 67, his wife, Cheryl C. Crown, 63, and their son, Evan S. Crown, 39, all of Wellington Fla., who were each originally indicted in November 2007 on the same charges.
The indictment alleges that from June 2001 through December 2007, the four knowingly and intentionally conspired to induce individual victims nationwide to invest money in sham candy vending machine business opportunities, and to obtain more than approximately $320,000 in money and property from those individuals by means of false and fraudulent pretenses.
The conspirators, the indictment alleges, created and used fictitious business names such as Capital Asset Investors Inc., Equitable Resources Inc., Empire Marketing, American Franchise Corp., and Ultimate Business Opportunities to lure people into making investments in the candy vending machine business.
The defendants distributed advertisements nationwide offering investment opportunities in the machine distributorships or franchises."
This appears to be a run of mill fraud - most of the distributors did not get any of the vending machines.
It is a bit unusual in that most vending frauds are run out Florida and don't last for more than 18 months.
To try to keep a business opportunity fraud running for 6 years is next to impossible.
Even with the name switching, it is hard to keep this type of fraud running from more than 18 months.
