http://www.jsonline.com/story/index.aspx?id=502839
Man charged in cyber fraud
Clothing scam went on after warnings, raids
By DAVID DOEGE
ddoege@journalsentinel.com
Posted: Sept. 24, 2006
A Brookfield man is facing charges in federal court accusing him of using the Internet to traffic counterfeit clothing and defraud customers throughout the country.
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Court records allege that Steven M. Weber began selling counterfeit clothes and scamming customers as a teenager under his parents' roof and continued illegal Internet marketing after warnings from police and raids at his home.
When police first got wind of Weber's activities two years ago, according to a criminal complaint, they warned him that he was running afoul of the law. Weber disregarded the warning, however, and continued in the trade even after police hauled away his new car, computer gear and counterfeit clothing, records show.
As recently as Sept. 11, according to the complaint, Weber was still operating a cyber store advertising merchandise from manufacturers that included Abercrombie & Fitch and Ralph Lauren, even though he has no affiliation with either.
The arrest of Weber, 21, on Thursday came after an investigation involving the FBI, Brookfield police and an area cyber crimes task force in which undercover agents bought counterfeit clothing from Weber and made clear to him in e-mails that they wanted counterfeit clothing.
The agents connected with Weber after investigating complaints from customers in several states and Germany who complained that they sent him thousands of dollars for large lots of designer clothing they never received.
Weber was charged in the criminal complaint with wire fraud and trafficking counterfeit goods. Assistant U.S. Attorney Scott Campbell said after Weber's arrest that the investigation concerning his activities was continuing.
Brookfield police first received a complaint about Weber in March 2004 from a man who said he paid $1,040 for Abercrombie & Fitch shirts he never received, according to records filed in Waukesha County Circuit Court that year. When police contacted the clothier's corporate office personnel, they reported that Weber, then 18, was not a licensed seller of their product and suspected the merchandise was counterfeit, according to court records.
Court records filed in Circuit Court that year and in federal court last week give the following account:
In June 2004, Brookfield police Detective Ron La Gosh, investigating continuing complaints about Weber's Internet sales activity, paid him a visit at his home.
Weber acknowledged that some of his merchandise did not have certificates of authenticity. La Gosh warned him that he was suspected of selling counterfeit clothing and deliberately failing to deliver goods to people who sent him money after visiting two Web sites he operated that advertised brand name clothing at deeply discounted prices.
La Gosh warned Weber to discontinue both practices, but he persisted, and so did the complaints about his sales practices.
Among them was a Colorado woman who said she never received 100 pairs of jeans she purchased for $5,000. A Missouri man complained that he never received 100 shirts he purchased for $1,050.
And three German citizens reported they paid more than $25,000 for 400 pairs of jeans but did not receive them.
On Jan. 7, 2005, police raided Weber's home, seized several dozen shirts, shipping materials, papers, receipts, a computer and computer equipment and subpoenaed his bank records. On Jan. 11, police returned to his home and seized Weber's 2005 Toyota Scion.
Forfeiture proceedings concerning the car were begun in Circuit Court that month, but in March of that year, the case was dropped and a prosecutor told the judge that the federal government was going to assume Weber's case.
Later that year, Weber began operating under a new Web site called Deluxe Trade, defrauding a woman in New York and a woman in California.
Investigators subsequently connected with Weber via the new site and "received numerous e-mails" advertising and soliciting sales for suspected counterfeit clothing. At one point, an agent bought 47 purported Ralph Lauren shirts for just $14 each and after receiving them confirmed they were counterfeit.
On Sept. 11, investigators saw that Weber was still operating Deluxe Trade. After concluding he was "continuing to sell and attempting to sell counterfeit merchandise," they began putting together an affidavit for an arrest warrant and a search warrant, which they executed Thursday during the third raid of his home.
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Steve Weber aka Deluxe Trade ~New Update!
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Here's the link to the latest Weber article.
http://www.jsonline.com/story/index.aspx?id=519920
TUESDAY, Oct. 17, 2006, 1:04 p.m.
By David Doege
Suspect's use of library computer probed
A Brookfield man charged last month with using the Internet to traffic counterfeit clothing and defraud people around the country has been placed under house arrest by a federal judge while authorities probe his use of computers at the Brookfield Public Library in recent weeks.
Steven M. Weber's detention was ordered after the charges against him were expanded through a seven-count indictment handed down by federal court grand jury.
During Weber's initial appearance on the expanded charges last week, Assistant U.S. Attorney Scott Campbell said that authorities have learned that Weber violated an earlier court order on at least three occasions by using computer and Internet services at the Brookfield Public Library.
When Weber, 21, was initially charged in federal court on Sept. 20 in a two-count criminal complaint, U.S. Magistrate Judge William Callahan Jr. ordered Weber "not to use a computer for any reason" while his case was pending. (previous coverage)
One week later and twice this month, authorities say they learned, Weber violated the prohibition by using a Brookfield library computer, according to a filing in the case last week by Campbell.
"The government does not yet know why Weber was using the computer and Internet services and, specifically, whether he used the computer to engage in further acts of fraudulent conduct or to destroy evidence," Campbell wrote in the filing. "The government anticipates that further investigation may shed light on what activities Weber undertook on the Internet." -
DUMB! DUMB! DUMB! This guy doesn't know when to quit! Where in the hell are his parents?
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