{Disarmed} Sentenced to 4 years in prison for defrauding inflated printer cartridges and earning $ 126 million at the expense of small businesses

The California Justice has sentenced Gilbert N. Michaels, a 79-year-old salesman who for decades was deceiving small businesses and charities with the sale of cartridges and toners for printers, to four years in prison . It is known that these cartridges have a high price, but Michaels came to sell them for prices up to 10 times more expensive than the retail cost .

A multi-million dollar scam that affected thousands of small businesses and with which the scammer managed to obtain up to 126 million dollars. He is convicted along with six other people for fraud and money laundering. More than 50,000 victims deceived through a telemarketing system established for decades.

In xiaomist.com Dodging the condemnation of ink cartridges: HP, Epson, Canon and Brother propose increasingly interesting alternatives

A phone scam dating back to the 70s

The Michaels scam began in the 70s and spans different states in the United States. Only during the six-year period for which he is sentenced, it is estimated that he sold cartridges worth 126 million dollars.

In addition to the four years in prison, Michaels is sentenced to pay a fine of $ 200,000. The scammer owned and operated through two companies: IDC Servco and Mytel International. Two companies that with the help of salespeople managed to fraudulently sell cartridges to thousands of companies and organizations. The commercials sold the cartridge pack to the companies and Michaels provided them at disproportionate prices .

Such was the scope of this sale that some victims continued to receive cartridges even though they no longer had contracts with the various copiers and printers . A fraudulent sale that many of these businesses were not expecting.

Telephone commercials told victims that the price of these cartridges had increased and that they had not been notified of the increase. If they continued to listen to them, they were told that they now had the opportunity to acquire them at a lower price. These small businesses, believing they were dealing with their regular supplier, signed the shipping requests .

In xiaomist.com Which printer to choose according to use (2021): shopping guide with tips and 22 featured models from 50 euros

A telephone scam that we have seen in multiple sectors and where the victims felt helpless since when they complained to the INC company, it told them that it could not refund the money after having signed the order confirmation forms. In many cases, even when the scammed did not want to pay, legal action was threatened if the bill for the ink cartridges and their inflated price were not paid.

{"videoId":"x80ii5s","autoplay":true,"title":"Las ALTERNATIVAS más INTERESANTES a los CARTUCHOS de TINTA"}

Via | MarketWatch

-
The news Sentenced to 4 years in prison for defrauding with inflated price printer cartridges and earning 126 million dollars at the expense of small businesses was originally published in xiaomist.com by Enrique Pérez .