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Subject: 
Re: Bricklink Admin Bill Swanberg arrested for Lego thefts
Newsgroups: 
lugnet.mediawatch, lugnet.general, lugnet.people, lugnet.market.brickshops
Date: 
Fri, 18 Nov 2005 21:48:39 GMT
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In lugnet.mediawatch, Andrew Bulthaupt wrote:
William A. Swanberg, the inventory admin on Bricklink was arrested for switching
UPCs on Lego sets.  Full story here:

http://www.co.washington.or.us/sheriff/media/win_100k.htm

"WASHINGTON COUNTY - - Early this morning (11/17/05), members of the Washington
County Interagency Fraud and Identity Theft Enforcement Team (FITE), along with
members of the Regional Computer Forensics Lab, served a search warrant on a van
parked in the Target parking lot located at 10075 SW Beaverton Hillsdale Hwy.
The owner of the van was alleged to have stolen over $115,000.00 worth of Lego’s
from the Target Corporation and then sold the toys on eBay.

William A. Swanberg
Detectives questioned a man they suspected of cheating Target stores in five
western states out of over $150,000.00. William A. Swanberg, 40, was detained by
Target security officers after he purchased ten boxes of the Star Wars
Millennium Falcon Lego set. Detectives say that Swanberg had developed a method
to replace the bar code on the more expensive Millennium Falcon set with one
from a less expensive Lego set. He purchased the Lego’s at a greatly reduced
price and then sold them on eBay for close to the retail price.

Target identified the scam after Swanberg allegedly committed the same crime in
Arizona, Utah, Nevada, and California. Target loss prevention agents had been on
the lookout for Swanberg after their corporate office notified them that he
might be in the Portland Area. When Detectives contacted Swanberg at the Target
store he didn’t want to talk to them about his activities. Detectives obtained a
search warrant for Swanberg’s newer model Ford E-350 van and served it at
approximately 4:00 a.m. this morning. They recovered 56 Star Wars Millennium
Falcon Lego sets valued at approximately $99 each, 22 other miscellaneous Lego
sets, and 5 Harry Potter Lego sets from the van which are thought to have been
stolen from other Target stores in the area. Detectives also seized a notebook
computer where Swanberg identified Target stores in the area and plotted their
locations on mapping software. Swanberg was lodged in Washington County Jail on
two counts of Theft I.

In anticipation of the coming Holidays, The FITE Team is encouraging people to
be especially careful with their financial information. For tips on preventing
fraud and identity theft visit the FITE web page listed below.

The FITE Team (Fraud & Identity Theft Enforcement) is a multi-agency team
currently comprised of Detectives from the Washington County Sheriff’s Office
and the Hillsboro Police Department."

Reposting in several additional groups.  This is an important story with
potential impact upon a whole bunch of people.

Thanks for posting the article.  I've been reading the comments over at the
Bricklink forum, where the sale/resale aspect may have widespread repercussions.


Dave!



Message has 1 Reply:
  Re: Bricklink Admin Bill Swanberg arrested for Lego thefts
 
I have not met or traded with Bill before. Still, this news shocked me, as if suddenly I discovered that one of my close friends were a criminal. It's sad, sad, sad. Stealing is wrong. Stealing for profit is very wrong. Still, he could have commit (...) (18 years ago, 22-Nov-05, to lugnet.mediawatch, lugnet.general, lugnet.people, lugnet.market.brickshops)

Message is in Reply To:
  Bricklink Admin Bill Swanberg arrested for Lego thefts
 
William A. Swanberg, the inventory admin on Bricklink was arrested for switching UPCs on Lego sets. Full story here: (URL) COUNTY - - Early this morning (11/17/05), members of the Washington County Interagency Fraud and Identity Theft Enforcement (...) (18 years ago, 18-Nov-05, to lugnet.mediawatch) !! 

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