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New York Father and Son Are Accused in Playstation 2 Internet Auction Scam
February 14, 2001
MARY JO WHITE, the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, and JEANINE PIRRO, Westchester County District Attorney, announced today the arrest of ELIAS GARAY and his son ALEJANDRO GARAY, of Bronx, New York, on the charge of wire fraud, in a Complaint unsealed today in Manhattan federal court.
The Complaint charges that the GARAYs devised a scheme to defraud bidders on Yahoo!, Amazon.com and Ebay auctions of approximately $113,982 by auctioning Playstation2 videogame consoles to the highest bidder, collecting money from the winners of the auctions, and then failing to provide the Playstation2's. According to the Complaint, the defendants were responsible for conducting hundreds of fraudulent Internet auctions for Playstation2s, using dozens of different identities, including the names "compucraze2000," "judgementday404," "eliasceo," "gamemasters2001," "skyhighely," and "inthebiz." The Complaint charges that various victims who won the auctions, many of which were conducted just prior to the 2000 Christmas season, were directed to send their payments either to private mailboxes which had been opened by ELIAS GARAY or, via an Internet money transfer service called Paypal, to e-mail addresses controlled by the GARAYs.
According to the Complaint, these purported "winning bidders" sent money to the GARAYs but never received the Playstation2 consoles they had paid for. The Complaint charges that the "winning bids" for the Yahoo! and Amazon.com auctions totaled approximately $113,982.
If convicted, ELIAS GARAY, 54, and ALEJANDRO GARAY, 18, each face a maximum sentence of five years in prison, and a fine of the greater of $250,000, or twice the gross gain or loss from the offense.
Ms. WHITE and Ms. PIRRO praised the investigative efforts of the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Yonkers Police Department, and said that the investigation is continuing.
Assistant United States Attorney ROBERT C. JUMAN is in charge of the prosecution. Assistant District Attorney KENNETH CITARELLA of the Westchester County District Attorney’s Office assisted in the prosecution of this case.
The charges contained in the Complaint are merely accusations, and the defendants are presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty.###
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