Mark Schifter To Be Sentenced Today

[Buzz]

Confessions of a dupe...

I am saddened to read all of this. I can't apologize enough to those that I offended having Marks back. I am greatful that the judge had the wisdom to set this up so those hurt financially have the small chance to get some money back even though they will never get back what has truely been lost. I haven't followed this very closely as I moved onto other things in life but checking in today has me about to puke. Now I read of mistresses and such. That means there is little in Marks life that he didn't cheat on. I don't intend to come back to this community but felt the need to offer the apoligy that is owed and take my share of responsibility. Thanks to those of you that didn't listen to the likes of me and saw what I couldn't. Good luck and God bless to all of you.

 

[Chu Gai]

Mark fooled virtually everyone, Buzz. The audio press provided plenty of cover such that anyone who looked to raise questions was concerned about the ensuing barrage that would fall upon them. Just goes to show you what the audio press really knows about the business. The ID business model was a good one and if the business was run responsibly he wouldn't be in the position he is today. Yes, there were mistresses. Hookers too. Here, China, Russia, Colombia, wherever he went. There's a trail of suppliers, business partners, employees left being owed amazing amounts of monies. There's a trail of defunct companies that he was involved with. I don't think you needed to apologize Buzz but I recognize the sincerity of it.

 

[GOSU1]

Mark fooled virtually everyone, Buzz. The audio press provided plenty of cover such that anyone who looked to raise questions was concerned about the ensuing barrage that would fall upon them. Just goes to show you what the audio press really knows about the business. The ID business model was a good one and if the business was run responsibly he wouldn't be in the position he is today. Yes, there were mistresses. Hookers too. Here, China, Russia, Colombia, wherever he went. There's a trail of suppliers, business partners, employees left being owed amazing amounts of monies. There's a trail of defunct companies that he was involved with. I don't think you needed to apologize Buzz but I recognize the sincerity of it.

Actually, I do believe that Buzz needed to apologize for reasons that he well understands. As one who found himself the recipient of Buzz' "spirited" defense of MLS, I appreciate the apology.

 

[Chu Gai]

Understood.

 

[Harmon]

Hey Jimmy...good to see you again...I wish it was under better circumstances.

I have refrained from saying anything about the situation as I had extremely mixed emotions about it. I had one side of me saying MLS never did me wrong personally or financially...he had broken promises but I came to expect that with him. On the other hand, he had used monies that I had donated to raffles for his own personal gain and left the intended recipients holding the bag as they waited for the monies owed.

I will preface that I haven't spoken to MLS in probably over 2 years as my last dealing with him left a very sour taste in my mouth. At that point I decided that I could no longer recommend AV123 or him to anyone in good faith and I told him that. To this day, I feel bad knowing that I could have possibly had a hand in enabling him as I was a supporter of AV123 and did my part in helping them get the word out about their products and what I thought was a great business built on community values. To all of those that were hurt by MLS I apologize for any part that I played in promoting AV123 or MLS.

I hope that this will bring an end to a painful process for many and that all that are owed restitution will get it in one shape or another. I have asked that the monies that I donated to the raffles go to the intended parties so that their needs that were shared are eventually met.

All of this has really taken away the shine in audio for me and now that it's put to bed, hopefully my desire to visit the boards and listen to music will come back.

Bob

Bob, good to hear from you too. I have a lot of mixed emotions as well. That's why I've tried to limit my comments to how the process works and correcting misinformation and misconceptions about the criminal justice system.

Although I think the sentence was fair and just, I get absolutely no joy from seeing Mark go to jail. I understand and don't begrudge those that do, but to be honest, it saddens me that such a talented, ambitious, and personable man let his greed destroy everything that he built.

 

[cschang]

I think owning up to being a defender(whether knowingly or duped), whether it being a consumer, employee, or business partner of MLS's goes a long way in the healing process for anyone that has been affected in this situation. Many of these folks have and will just sweep it under a rug, and hope it goes away or pretend it never happened.

Heck, there are still those out there that called a lot of what has been uncovered a fabrication....flat out calling Chu and others liars, and have not stepped forward with an apology.

 

[cschang]

Although I think the sentence was fair and just, I get absolutely no joy from seeing Mark go to jail. I understand and don't begrudge those that do, but to be honest, it saddens me that such a talented, ambitious, and personable man let his greed destroy everything that he built.

Harmon, while I also don't begrudge those in your position, my personal feeling about everyone is that we are all true to our core, and our talents, ambition, greed, in essence, what we are willing to do to get what we want, is based on that core.

IMO, what MLS built, is/was built on those same principles.

 

[Chu Gai]

I think owning up to being a defender(whether knowingly or duped), whether it being a consumer, employee, or business partner of MLS's goes a long way in the healing process for anyone that has been affected in this situation. Many of these folks have and will just sweep it under a rug, and hope it goes away or pretend it never happened.

Heck, there are still those out there that called a lot of what has been uncovered a fabrication....flat out calling Chu and others liars, and have not stepped forward with an apology.

I don't think there's anyone at this point who thinks this is a fabrication. Understand Curtis that back when there were things that I would not corroborate. Behind the scenes, there were only a few that could be trusted without reserve with information which would not make its way back to MLS. One thing I didn't want to see was AV451 purging threads while investigations were ongoing. So, there were a couple of times I and others intentionally lied with respect to something the ARC never responding back to my inquiries. In many cases, and I think that might even include you, I forwarded along correspondence with respect to the charities.

There have been some persons who have PM'd me with respect to what they now know to have been the truth and then some all along. I accept it and we move on. I'm also not going to give their names publicly as the matters have been settled and if one thinks about it, it's easy to see their POV. But it's like I said above, there weren't too many I felt comfortable with sharing stuff that supported my words and I mean no disrespect to them. MLS is a bad man even if the raffles never occurred.

I see Quadman/Fudbuster is still trying to take some of the blame off of MLS and place it squarely on some of the victims.

Quad, I do not consider prepaying for a future product from a well respected, established company to be akin to throwing money at a craps table. If you think that "more often than not, you'll lose" then I would like to offer to supply ALL goods and services for you for the rest of your life. I'll make you a good deal on 40% of them, not deliver 60% of them, and apparently you'll consider this a reasonable outcome.

I also do not consider someone wanting to get a good value for their hard earned entertainment dollar to be greedy and at fault because they got screwed by MLS. Is someone that buys ID instead of BM greedy? What if I buy generic corn flakes instead of Kelloggs? Greedy? And if there's a razor in my cornflakes I deserved it?

The fact that you do is ridiculous and further illustrates your complete disconnect from reality that allowed you to continue to defend the man so long after everyone that wasn't a complete fool knew he was up to no good. Quad, you're a real piece of sh....I mean work.

All I can say is I wouldn't mind finding Gillette's top razor and a pack of 25 disposable blades in my corn flakes! And let's not discuss or link to other websites. If we so choose, we can always go to those websites and take up the issues directly on that person's home turf.

 

[Jed M]

let his greed destroy everything that he built.

I agree that he threw away something special, but I don't think it was money that motivated Mark. In my not so professional opinion Mark suffers from some form of Megalomania. He wanted to be loved, no, adored and worshiped. The money allowed him to treat people special and in turn receive what he really craved, adoration. Read his apology. Talking about how he is sorry about how he has not been there to support people? What kind of person who refuses to apologize to the victims and who isn't suffering from a severe personality disorder would say those kind of things. Just looking back at the whole spectacle he created about himself, the cult like following he eventually cultivated says to me that money was just a means to an end, but not the end in itself. He used people and emotions as much as he used money to reach those narcissistic goals. MLS and what he stood for was a myth, a character he created to feed his desperate desire to be put on the pedestal he believed he deserved. Even the very nature of his crimes (helping orphans, sick children, disaster victims, etc) were to feed his need for positive reinforcement and public praise. For those reasons his game wasn't the money or greed in my opinion.

 

[cschang]

I don't think there's anyone at this point who thinks this is a fabrication. Understand Curtis that back when there were things that I would not corroborate. Behind the scenes, there were only a few that could be trusted without reserve with information which would not make its way back to MLS. One thing I didn't want to see was AV451 purging threads while investigations were ongoing. So, there were a couple of times I and others intentionally lied with respect to something the ARC never responding back to my inquiries. In many cases, and I think that might even include you, I forwarded along correspondence with respect to the charities.

There have been some persons who have PM'd me with respect to what they now know to have been the truth and then some all along. I accept it and we move on. I'm also not going to give their names publicly as the matters have been settled and if one thinks about it, it's easy to see their POV. But it's like I said above, there weren't too many I felt comfortable with sharing stuff that supported my words and I mean no disrespect to them. MLS is a bad man even if the raffles never occurred.

Chu...I completely understand. I am sure nobody thinks they are fabrications now. But back then, there were some very prominent forum posters that spoke against you and flat out called you a liar. As things came to light, and now that MLS is convicted, some of those very people have yet to apologize in the same manner as Buzz has...and they probably have more to reason to apologize. Then again, knowing some of them, I would not expect an apology.

Yes, he is a bad man, and the raffles are what got him caught. His history of unethical business practices were/are often overlooked.

 

[Chu Gai]

Chu...I completely understand. I am sure nobody thinks they are fabrications now. But back then, there were some very prominent forum posters that spoke against you and flat out called you a liar. As things came to light, and now that MLS is convicted, some of those very people have yet to apologize in the same manner as Buzz has...and they probably have more to reason to apologize. Then again, knowing some of them, I would not expect an apology.

Yes, he is a bad man, and the raffles are what got him caught. His history of unethical business practices were/are often overlooked.

People who spoke out were called lots of things. Liars, one trick ponies, folks with hidden agendas, disgruntled customers, competitors, fan boys from another company, jealous, hurting existing customers by making it more difficult to obtain warranty repair, and you name it. Things at one time were pretty contentious but that was then. So, might as well just let all that go. Apologies aren't important. What is is looking towards financial restitution in the matter of the raffles and a few other matters. That's why I see the foreclosure and sale of his residence as possibly a very good thing. It'll free up money which can be used to make amends of sorts. At least I hope so.

I honestly don't think we've seen the end of legal issues for MLS.

And Jed? I think your general analysis is a hell of a lot more right than wrong. Maybe we can summarize it and just call him a douchebag?

 

[cschang]

Yes...the foreclosure/sale is a very good thing if those moneys get steered toward restitution.

 

[NicolasKL]

All I can say is I wouldn't mind finding Gillette's top razor and a pack of 25 disposable blades in my corn flakes! And let's not discuss or link to other websites. If we so choose, we can always go to those websites and take up the issues directly on that person's home turf.

I very happily would have, if I wasn't banned from that section of the forum.

 

[majorloser]

To Sum It All Up

Here's the booking records:

SCHIFTER,MARK LAWRENCE Booking #: 1008506 Booking Date: 10/08/2010 19:46 Location: BJ INT
DOB: 05/29/1956 Race: W Sex: M
Case No: 10CR527 Arresting Agency: BOULDER COUNTY SHERIFFS OFFICE
Charge Information: 18-4-401(2)(D). THEFT $20,000 OR MOR Arrest Date: 10/08/2010
Charge Information: 6-16-111(1)(A) CHARITABLE FRAUD-ACT Arrest Date: 10/08/2010

http://www.bouldercounty.org/sheriff/jail/daily_booking_report/viewfile.asp?fileid=1439

He was sentenced to:

• 2 Years Work Release
• 20 Years Probation
• 500 Hours Community Service
• $110,000 Restitution to the Victims

His home is in foreclosure and scheduled for sale on October 13th, 2010

Outstanding balance= $301,966.40
Lender's bid amount= $352,665.73

http://www.bouldercountypt.org/Temp/WeeklyReports/Pre Sale 10-13.pdf
http://www.bouldercountypt.org/SearchDetails.aspx?id=80006948&fn=10-23711

I doubt there will be much left for victim restitution from the property sale. The lender will most likely recoup their expenses from the foreclosure.


I am quite sure there is no satisfaction to be had for all those personally or financially affected by the events leading up to this climax. Mr. Mark Shiftler has had his day in court and the court has made their ruling. This may not be the end of the story. It is always possible Mr. Shiftler may end up receiving charges from Federal court for the fraudulent activities involving charities.

But in the end, Mr. Mark Shiftler will remain under close scrutiny for the rest of his life and hopefully our justice system will prevent him from further fraud.

For those of us who have made this hobby a part of our life, you can be sure somebody out there will be following his activities and making sure he never receives a welcome back to this business again.

NEWS ARTICLES:

http://www.bizjournals.com/denver/stories/2010/10/11/daily63.html
http://www.timescall.com/news_story.asp?ID=23865
http://www.dailycamera.com/ci_16342721?source=most_viewed


_________________________________________________________________

 

[majorloser]

From the Boulder County Recorders office:

Document Type: JUDGMENT
Document Status: Verify with OCR
Reception Number: 03154524
Book:
Page:
Recorded Date: 06/20/2011 08:29:42 AM
Recording Fees: $11.00
Number of Pages: 1
Remarks: 10CV000430-3 BOULDER DISTRICT $305,500