UPDATED: Mark L. Schifter, PLEADS GUILTY to suspicion of charity fraud

[rseynaev]

So how much $$$ total is MLS accused of stealing/swindling?

I think the numbers I hear were:
180K to the raffles.
40K to Chu Gai (for radio ads or something)
??? to RSL pre-pays
??? (I think 1 million might have been mentioned) to partners

How could he have gotten away with this for all this time? I did a total on my donations to raffles over the years, it came to around $400. I hate to think all I did was line someones pockets. Pretty sad if all of this is true.

 

[gonk]

So how much $$$ total is MLS accused of stealing/swindling?

I doubt we can come up with an accurate number, I'm afraid.

I think the numbers I hear were:
180K to the raffles.
40K to Chu Gai (for radio ads or something)
??? to RSL pre-pays
??? (I think 1 million might have been mentioned) to partners

According to the indictment, he stole a bit over $150,000 of the $180,000 that he collected ($29,500 was found to have been delivered).

He doesn't owe Chu Gai any money. I remember Chu saying that he'd read a post by Jerry Del Colliano (Home Theater Review.com) indicating that Mark had stuck him for $40,000 in advertising at AV Revolution.

There are twelve RSL-II beta owners. Each paid $6,000 for a total of $72,000.

Several people have mentioned that AV123 had a debt with Sound Art China (the factory owned by Mr. Pu where the Onix speakers are built and where the Rockets were originally built) that is on the order of $1 million.

There was an AV123 Forum member with the screen name "Uncle Paul" who had a business arrangement with Mark that well through. He was owed money (I don't know if I ever heard how much) and I think that was banned from their forum for pushing Mark for re-payment.

Are there others? It's hard to say, and it gets into legal issues that are likely to keep people from talking openly about it as long as there is any hope of getting paid.

How could he have gotten away with this for all this time? I did a total on my donations to raffles over the years, it came to around $400. I hate to think all I did was line someones pockets. Pretty sad if all of this is true.

Charisma can be a powerful force. If you have enough people rallied around you and convinced that you are a good person, it's easier to cover things up. Nobody could go into AV123 Forum and ask for receipts because the concensus was that Mark was almost a saint and asking the question was an insult to him. Business debts are private matters, and so they tend to stay behind closed doors unless something really bizarre happens. Frankly, had he not started doing raffles where the recipients were closely tied to the community, he might have gotten away with it a lot longer.

 

[rseynaev]

Maybe I was confused regarding Chu Gai being stiffed 40K. I saw where someone was referring to Chu Gai as Jerry so I thought they were the same person.

I met MLS one time at a GTG. He seemed very geniune. It's easy to get sucked into all the hype. I've recommended AV123 to people in the past but not anymore.

 

[bandphan]

Maybe I was confused regarding Chu Gai being stiffed 40K. I saw where someone was referring to Chu Gai as Jerry so I thought they were the same person.e.

 

[Chu Gai]

What douche bag thinks I'm Jerry besides the guy who PM'd me wanting to talk on the phone?

If you guys who now show this burning curiousity about me and at one time were ardent Shifty Kool-Aid drinkers had shown the same curiousity about him, he wouldn't have phucked as many people as he had. If someone had picked up the phone or emailed Ballet Nouveau back in 2004 just out of curiousity, and it could've been done anonymously, you'd have known he didn't give a penny. The jig would've been up, the cops could've been called, and that would've been the end of it and hopefully the end of AV451.

This whole, what's my agenda, what's my motivation, what's in it for me, who do I work for, why am I doing it is frankly ridiculous. As if I have to pass everyone's litmus test because all I was is a concerned citizen who smelled a stinking, cheese eating rat. You want to know about me? How's about this. Why don't you folks look in the mirror and ask who you are? Why don't you ask why you didn't see the warning signs? Ask youselves if the Godfather movies provide lessons for life, how was it you didn't see that Shifty kept his friends close and his enemies closer and that you in fact were really his enemies?

 

[rseynaev]

Maybe I was confused regarding Chu Gai being stiffed 40K. I saw where someone was referring to Chu Gai as Jerry so I thought they were the same person.

I met MLS one time at a GTG. He seemed very geniune. It's easy to get sucked into all the hype. I've recommended AV123 to people in the past but not anymore.

Last week I sent an email to Kyle and politely asked him to remove my name from consideration for their Audition Avenue. I know - pretty drastic measure there

 

[rseynaev]

What douche bag thinks I'm Jerry besides the guy who PM'd me wanting to talk on the phone?

Hmm... I took a look at the original thread I saw it in and see it has been edited and the reference to Chu Gui/Jerry has been removed.

 

[Chu Gai]

And what thread/post would that be?

 

[T2T]

What douche bag thinks I'm Jerry besides the guy who PM'd me wanting to talk on the phone?

I thought the Quadman referred to you as "Jerry" in one or two of his postings.

 

[Chu Gai]

I thought the Quadman referred to you as "Jerry" in one or two of his postings.

If so, great detective work Einstein.

 

[mhawker]

I met MLS one time at a GTG. He seemed very geniune.

MLS did love GTG's.....

Here is a photo of of John (quad) flexing his muscles at the GTG at my house. Let there be no doubt this man can cook.

 

[Shock]

The fact of the matter is, if he is found guilty of these charges he will not do "hard time". It's a white collar crime and the justice system will never send him to anything more than a minimum security resort.

 

[Chu Gai]

MLS did love GTG's.....

Here is a photo of of John (quad) flexing his muscles at the GTG at my house. Let there be no doubt this man can cook.

No MLS pics?

 

[rseynaev]

If you guys who now show this burning curiousity about me and at one time were ardent Shifty Kool-Aid drinkers had shown the same curiousity about him, he wouldn't have phucked as many people as he had. If someone had picked up the phone or emailed Ballet Nouveau back in 2004 just out of curiousity, and it could've been done anonymously, you'd have known he didn't give a penny. The jig would've been up, the cops could've been called, and that would've been the end of it and hopefully the end of AV451.

At the time I don't think any of us raffle participants (Kool-Aid drinkers as you like to call us) had any doubt the money was going to where it was promised. Because of this I could possibly see him getting away with stiffing some of the more faceless organizations without anyone the wiser. However to stiff someone like Derek and his family (even after pleas of help for just some of the money to send his daugther to a diabetes camp) is monsterous and the thought process in which somehow he thought he could get away with that borders on insanity.

 

[rseynaev]

I thought the Quadman referred to you as "Jerry" in one or two of his postings.

Yeah - that was where I saw it. The references to Chu Gai/Jerry have been cleaned up it seems.

 

[Chu Gai]

The fact of the matter is, if he is found guilty of these charges he will not do "hard time". It's a white collar crime and the justice system will never send him to anything more than a minimum security resort.

Well, that's good. He'll have plenty of time to do a bunch of things then.

• Find out why all the HR Upgrades are blowing up.
• Talk to Arnie Nudell and Bascom King and then finally get those RSL-II's out the door. Should be someone in prison that can knock off that Act 3 website.
• Work with Danny on all those new speaker projects.
• Work with PierceAudioProducts on those new subs and get Zeng Ming going on cranking out more of those great amps. Here are some names for them.
• X-Cuse
  [*]X-Crement
  [*]X-Employee
  [*]X-Lax
  [*]X-Aggerate
  [*]X-Wife
  [*]X-Ile​
• Refine those speaker drawings
• Lift weights
• Get some tattoos
• Decide on a gang affiliation
• Top or bottom - that's goig to be tough

But for a man used to living well, having nice cars, watches, pens, and the constant contact with an adoring public, it ain't going to be fun come chow and shower time.

 

[Chu Gai]

At the time I don't think any of us raffle participants (Kool-Aid drinkers as you like to call us) had any doubt the money was going to where it was promised. Because of this I could possibly see him getting away with stiffing some of the more faceless organizations without anyone the wiser. However to stiff someone like Derek and his family (even after pleas of help for just some of the money to send his daugther to a diabetes camp) is monsterous and the thought process in which somehow he thought he could get away with that borders on insanity.

Oh, I very much agree with you. Boning the people who would know immediaely if they didn't get anything was an outright dumb move of such hubris and arrogance. When the trial starts and the evidence comes as to who he didn't give one cent to it should make for some great disappointment.

The $180,000 or so, yeah that's not so much over 4-5 years. And there are folks out there who are thinking it must've gone into the business because there were business shortfalls we didn't know about. That it was a stress thing and now we can handle a medical condition on it which will explain it. To me, that's more Kool-Aid drinking. So faced with that quickie analysis, they now become curious about me and why this or that. Folks, if you want to understand more and you're not happy with the other pictures that've been painted of him, go out and find out more about him on your own and draw a better picture. If you're worried about his family, why don't you start by defining who his family is and seeing what role they played in the grand scheme of things. I'm not saying they were intimately involved in all of this but just start doing some thinking. To me, the one true victim in his family is Gracie his grand-daughter. There's a couple of others but there are some, who IMHO, ought to have figured out that something wasn't right.

 

[mhawker]

No MLS pics?

Sure.... I'll leave out the one of him hugging me.

 

[Chu Gai]

Sure.... I'll leave out the one of him hugging me.

איך בין ווערקלעמפּט

 

[mhawker]

איך בין ווערקלעמפּט

Via google:

Hebrew to English translation

How the Ooarklamft

I'm guessing what you typed has nothing to do with whatever an Ooarklamft is.