Mark Schifter Arrested Again

[Chu Gai]

He has been charged with 14 Felony counts. One is 3rd degree with the rest in the 4th degree. The investigation and arrest was conducted by the Longmont PD.


1/5/2012 2:00 PM BOND HEARING Held
1/10/2012 2:00 PM FILING OF CHARGES Continued
1/20/2012 2:00 PM FILING OF CHARGES Held
2/6/2012 9:00 AM PRELIMINARY HEARING Posted

 

[MinusTheBear]

Just when you think "were are they now". Will there be an indictment filed by the State Attorney? I guess that would be the filing of charges?

 

[Chu Gai]

I didn't see anything about an indictment. My understanding is the charges relate to things like undelivered product such as the RSL and LS products and the various bait and switch things that occurred. Some might recall a few people who unexpectedly received the amounts they were owed from deposits they'd made. Those were folks who'd received checks drawn on insufficient funds. The statute of limitations was something like 3 years for the recipients of the bounced checks to file a complaint and I'm of the opinion his lawyer advised him to pay those off or face felony fraud charges. It remains to be seen how this will affect his ability to continue to make restitution or jail time. If only Ms. Khabarovsk would see fit to sell the house he bought her family, sell her furs, the cars, the AV equipment, maybe cash in the boob job, she could help him out.

 

[MinusTheBear]

IIRC it was close to a dozen that ponied up to be "beta testers" for the RSL II's at that time.

 

[gmichael]

Again?

 

[j_garcia]

Was afraid to read this thread. Thought he might have beat up some girl scouts or something

 

[Alex2507]

Was afraid to read this thread. Thought he might have beat up some girl scouts or something

Worse, he's still the ultimate white vanner.

To this community there is nothing lower.

 

[Lulimet]

Who is Mark Schifter?

 

[j_garcia]

Who is Mark Schifter?

That's a long story. In a nutshell, he had an internet direct speaker company and he used it to fleece people of their money in a variety of ways.

http://forums.audioholics.com/forums/steam-vent/63537-updated-mark-l-schifter-pleads-guilty-suspicion-charity-fraud.html

 

[dwayland]

Just when we were starting to forget....

Not like we could ever "truly" forget, but we have been trying...

 

[Chu Gai]

I spoke with the Court Clerk today and was informed that there will be a preliminary hearing scheduled for March 5 at 9am. At that time the court will decide whether there is sufficient evidence to proceed with a trial.

 

[chessman]

I spoke with the Court Clerk today and was informed that there will be a preliminary hearing scheduled for March 5 at 9am. At that time the court will decide whether there is sufficient evidence to proceed with a trial.

Any updates?

 

[Chu Gai]

Nothing significant. We'll see what happens next month.

Case Events
1/5/2012 2:00 PM BOND HEARING Held
1/10/2012 2:00 PM FILING OF CHARGES Continued
1/20/2012 2:00 PM FILING OF CHARGES Held
2/6/2012 9:00 AM PRELIMINARY HEARING Continued
3/5/2012 9:00 AM PRELIMINARY HEARING Continued
4/5/2012 9:00 AM PRELIMINARY HEARING Posted

Here's a pic of him during happier times visiting his extended family in Colombia.

 

[JohnA]

^ You just HAD to post that pic huh... not like I needed that image in my head...

 

[andy_c]

Man, it's been quite a while since this stuff originally happened. After reading this thread, I googled:

"schifter site:stereophile.com"

without quotes. His mugshot is number one on the list. Took me a moment to realize that it was actually my own post in their forum .

 

[Jed M]

Crazy stuff. Just saw this. Don't really come by much anymore but this does stir up some memories. Keep us updated if you follow up. I was SO CLOSE to send money for those RSL's. That seems like a lifetime ago. Thanks again Chu for all you did to uncover his web of deceit. Your tenacity is commendable, albeit a bit scary. Keep up the good work.

 

[droht]

It's funny, I haven't been around here in a quite a while, but when I come back what do I see? "Mark Schifter Arrested". It's like I never left...

Jed, you are right, it does seem like a lifetime ago. In many ways my passion for audio gear died when all that bad stuff went down at av123 and the community. But that is not necessarily a bad thing. I'm more interested in music (again) rather than the electronics that deliver the music. Not a bad thing. Maybe I owe MLS some thanks for that. Or not.

Chu, it's good to see you are still at it. It gives me some measure of faith to realize that everyone does not "get away with it".

 

[Solid-State]

Am I the only one that thought it strange his cabinets were made in of all places COLUMBIA!

 

[Chu Gai]

Am I the only one that thought it strange his cabinets were made in of all places COLUMBIA!

Actually, it's COLOMBIA but not so strange when you realize a few things.

He found a guy who was passionate about speakers and was willing to put up all the money to make them. A sucker. It didn't matter so much that the guy had no experience in large scale production and it showed in the enormous amount of B, C, and garbage stock that was being sent.

The guy extended incredibly favorable credit terms to Shifty such that Shifty was playing with the guy's money and in the end screwed him out many hundreds of thousands of dollars.

He was running out of capital and favorable funding terms from the few places in China he used to get products from. He'd already ****** Mr. Pu of SoundArts China out of over a million. Also, shipping times were less from Colombia.

Shifty liked going there. He could get away from his wife and party it up with the hookers since prostitution is legal there.

 

[Alex2507]

Shifty liked going there. He could get away from his wife and party it up with the hookers since prostitution is legal there.

Now that we have that covered do you know of a good connection for blow down there?