Publish Date: 2/27/2010
Longmont man accused of charity fraud
By Scott Rochat
© 2010 Longmont Times-Call
A grand jury has indicted 53-year-old Mark L. Schifter of Longmont on suspicion of stealing $180,034 through a charity fraud.
Colorado Attorney General John Suthers announced the indictment Friday. He said the grand jury accused Schifter of running 27 illegal charity raffles online at his company's main Web site, www.AV123.com, and then keeping most of the money for himself.
"Of that amount, only $29,500 was ever given to the ostensible recipients of the donated raffle money," the grand jury said in its indictment. "Many charities that Mark Schifter said would receive large amounts of donations from his raffles, in fact, received nothing."
Schifter heads Perpetual Technologies, a company that sells high-end audio equipment. According to the indictment, he is believed to have run the raffles between Oct. 18, 2004, and Aug. 25, 2009, through an online forum at the AV123 site. At one point, the indictment said, he even set up a PayPal account to make it easier to donate.
Each raffle included an expensive piece of audio equipment as a prize, the indictment said, as well as an emotional appeal for help written by Schifter.
"The scam not only defrauded Colorado consumers, but it also preyed on their generosity," Suthers said in a statement Friday.
A total of 707 people from across the United States gave to the raffles, Suthers said. The causes promoted by the raffles included the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, The Children's Hospital of Denver, Russian orphanages, the Salvation Army and the American Red Cross efforts to help victims of Hurricane Katrina, according to the indictment.
Schifter ran each raffle without a license and without permission to use the names of the charities, the indictment claims.
"In fact, most of the organizations were unaware that a so-called raffle was being held to benefit them," the grand jury said in its indictment.
The grand jury indicted Schifter on five counts, consisting of:
• Theft of $20,000 or more.
• Committing a computer crime to scheme or defraud $20,000 or more.
• Violating raffle law by failing to get a charitable gaming license.
• Charitable fraud.
• Use of an organization's name without authorization in connection with a charitable fraud.
Suthers said his office worked with the Longmont Police Department to get the indictment.
Suthers also said that those wanting to investigate a Colorado charity can go online to www.checkthecharity.org.
Charities also can be checked out through the Boulder/Denver office of the Better Business Bureau at www.denver.bbb.org/charity.
Scott Rochat can be reached at 303-684-5220 or srochat@times-call.com.
https://audioroundtable.com/forum/index.php?t=msg&goto=61944&
Longmont man sentenced to 20 years probation for illegal charity rafflesBy Vanessa Miller, Camera staff writerPOSTED: 10/15/2010 08:34:37 AM MDTUPDATED: 10/15/2010 01:09:23 PM MDT
A 54-year-old Longmont man has been sentenced to 20 years of probation and two years of work release for defrauding Colorado residents through fraudulent charity raffles.
Mark L. Schifter also will be required to pay $110,000 in restitution to his victims, according to Colorado Attorney General John Suthers.
Schifter used his two companies — www.AV123.com and Perpetual Technologies — to post information online about 27 illegal charity raffles between October 2004 and August 2009, according to his indictment. He would offer desirable stereo equipment as prizes and write emotional appeals for charities ranging from the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute to the American Red Cross to the Children's Hospital of Denver.
He would occasionally solicit donations for real people who were actually sick, according to the indictment.
The indictment says he didn't get permission from the charities to run the raffles in their names, and most of the organizations were unaware the raffles were ever held.
During the five-year period, Schifter stole nearly $180,000 from 707 victims using the fraudulent raffles. Many of the charities advertised as benefactors of the online games received no money, according to the indictment.
Investigators from the Office of the Attorney General partnered with Longmont police to obtain the indictment.
Anyone wanting more information about charities or charitable solicitors can visit www.checkthecharity.com to find information on charities operating in Colorado or soliciting contributions from Colorado consumers.
http://www.dailycamera.com/rss/ci_16342721
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How could our Audigon community not been made aware of these and other issues??? AV123.com’s Mark Schifter Indicted in Colorado For Alleged Charity Fraud
A local Colorado new website, TimesCall.com, is reporting that AV123.com’s Mark Schifter has just been indicted by a grand jury for up to 27 counts of misappropriating raffle money. The raffles were supposedly designed to benefit charities including the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, The Children’s Hospital of Denver, Russian orphanages, the Salvation Army and the American Red Cross efforts to help victims of Hurricane Katrina. The indictment reportedly states that Schifter had no license and or the permission of each of the charities. Many of the charities report that they never received the money from the raffle events.
Mr. Schifter faces five counts including: Theft of $20,000 or more, Committing a computer crime to scheme or defraud $20,000 or more, Violating raffle law by failing to get a charitable gaming license, Charitable fraud and Use of an organization’s name without authorization in connection with a charitable fraud. In America we all are innocent until proven guilty yet even with that protection in place, there are many in the AV industry who are not surprised that "Shifty Schifter" is in trouble with the law. His success with Genesis Loudspeakers and Audio Alchemy in the 1990s are well documented. Schifter also went on to be an early player in the outsourcing of loudspeaker manufacturing to China as well as the online sale of speakers directly to the customer. Paired with his successes comes a laundry list of industry enemies who remember the questionable business practices, broken promises and breached contracts. Schifter is famous for saying "if you don’t like it - sue me." Now it looks like the Colorado Attorney General is taking him up on the offer with some very serious allegations. Allegations that come months after Schifter is recovering from heart ailments say one contact close to Schifter. https://hometheaterreview.com/av123coms-mark-schifter-indicted-in-colorado-for-alleged-charity-fraud...
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Wow, another CPT thread deleted. =/
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The Mods have now deleted 2 complete threads and are deleting post after post made by people who have not been sent their products or issued refunds. Does Audiogon really think this is the right way to handle this?
This whole drama has been playing out over a year, and now when it is coming to a head they simply delete complaints by people who have paid for undelivered product and have asked for refunds or had to make fraud claims against Mark and CPT. |
@con1150
@ozzy Posted a thread about Mark’s history awhile back, but Audiogon deleted it and here we are...again.
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I actually wonder if Dan will complete the Deep Core. I did read what Mark posted previously.
But, has there been a finished working Deep Core unit that does indeed improve sound quality?
Or is it still in the idea stage?
ozzy
Up till now, the only thing Deep Core has proven on these forums is that it can blow up systems so why would anyone with any business sense release it at this point? |
@amg56 I would tend to disagree with what you’ve posted above. Conlog, I’d advise you call to Dan and ask him about outstanding payments given to Mark Schyfter for product.
My understanding as of about a week ago was that if the deals closes, Dan will be taking up new production responsibilities while Mark will remain responsible for outstanding monies owed. Mark has said so much himself.
Deep Core at that point according to Dan hadn't been tested by his Team yet. Nothing in the other thread says different. Based on what Dan posted he was told by the production engineer the problems were fixed, which is exactly what Mark Schyfter has been telling everyone for a year.
No one that we know or trust has tested Deep Core and posted their thoughts. The last time Deep Core shipped, according to Lak and Ozzy their was no improvement in sound and it blew fuses in Ozzy's system. |
@lak
Thanks for the correction. Those threads are hidden now and I couldn't quite remember what damage there was to your system.
I thought it quite odd that Mark's claim since day 1 was that it was front end to a complete system, yet a poster on here had to point out that one of the parts was only rated to 3 amps or so. If indeed there was a technical team developing Deep Core that would have never been missed. |
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@con1150 Hugh has followed these threads and is well aware of the paid for but as of yet undelivered product. He didn’t have to post anything on this thread. Let’s let him discuss these issues directly with Mark and keep us updated here.
Good luck Hugh! 👍 |
@con1150 I’m well aware of Mark’s past, as well as the number of my fellow posters on these forums that are owed money and so is Hugh. Hugh is a successful businessman who knows the importance of making sure that the customers who are owed money or product need to be taken care of if he purchases CPT. I’m sure that’s one of the reasons he’s posted publicly about his intent to offer to purchase CPT. |
Has the offer been accepted, and has escrow been opened? How long is escrow and the due diligence period for the buyer, and when is escrow scheduled to close? |
Lots of posts trying to warn about Mark's previous history of fraud were removed by moderators, including one by @ozzy very early on. Even when Ozzy tried to post about his previous warning post it was deleted. |
There was one poster on one of the 2 now hidden threads who had not been refunded on a CPT product or 2 and had also purchased a Lyngdorf from Schyfter. He had to file for fraud through his Visa. He was the one poster who had the perseverance to continue to post despite repeated deletions until enough posters had seen what he wrote and posted similar things.
Does anyone remember who that was? I recall that when I saw his post, Schyfter had taken between 8-10 thousand from him alone. |
acaman46 posts07-30-2018 2:01pm8-10 Thousands?
What could he possibly buy from CPT for that much? If I recall correctly, there were 2 CPT units and a Lyngdorf integrated amp. He posted his direct requests to Schyfter for refund and finally the Visa fraud refund request. |
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With regards to the Lyngdorf...
While in a conversation with Schyfter after I made my purchase, I told him what brand of equipment I was using, and he then told me if I ever needed anything from that 1 particular brand he had an employee discount with them and could help me with whatever I needed.
I wonder who else Schyfter made that offer to?
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@gdnrbob There have been dozens of instances of undelivered goods and refunds going back to the original CPT products pre-dating Deep Core. The issues and patterns here mirror Schyfter's legal problems going back 6-10 years+. |
@celander
Could you please ask the moderators to un-hide the Deep Core and other CPT Equi-core thread so we can review all the comments together? |
hifipassion5 posts08-09-2018 3:38pmI just purchased a brand new Equi=Core 1800 from Paul (Mark's Grandson) and everything went well with the transaction. I sent PayPal payment on 8/1/18 and he shipped the same day and sent me a tracking number. He said that his Grandma (Mark's wife) had just finished building and boxing
the unit the day before.
amg56553 posts08-09-2018 4:25pmMy 1800's were ready to ship back in March. "Lynn had personally overseen the build and pack" along with the SS I ordered. Ready to ship "Monday"! ...nothing. Still nothing today. A "same ol' same ol'" email came yesterday. Empty promises again. It is taking my legal team effort and my money to see a refund I paid, for 2 DCs, 2 E=C 1800s and 2 SS cables.
So rather than send product to customers like @amg56, who already paid for Equi-Cores, Schyfter took more monies and sent off product through his son-inlaw to other buyers? This reminds me like one of those old ponzi schemes... |
@amg56 So sorry to hear about your recent news. My prayers go out for you and your family at this time... 🙏🙏🙏 |
Lots of you uncancelled cancellations and are risking putting yourself outside the statute of limitations.
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Those of you who haven’t done so, should reverse the cancellation of your cancellation and pursue legal means to get back your monies.I would advise getting the groups of you together and filing a lawsuit and charges.
Our community thrives on trust between it’s member and retailer’s, and Mark Schifter is brutally taking advantage of that trust in a criminal fashion. This whole episode is like one giant ponzi scheme. While those of you who have given him monies are waiting, he is selling more product to others. He owe's Equicores to different customers and a functioning Deep Core was never brought to market so every singly order of Deep Core is undelivered.
We don’t need anyone like Mark Schifter anywhere near our hobby.
Good luck people... |
EXOGAL is not acquiring Core Power Technologies, LLC, the company, which will remain as a separate entity located in Colorado. EXOGAL is solely acquiring the assets and products for the Equi-Core and Deep-Core lines, including the brand names.
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@exogal_ceo
So just to be clear, Exogal is not responsible for any of the outstanding monies owed for products not delivered, correct??? |
Despite @lesslosslover's sparkling review here, I as well as most others wouldn't recommend buying anything from Mark, now or in the future. His history has show him to be a predator and a thief within our community.
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@mrdecibel
Mark is the only bandit here.
He's been taking advantage of our community for years.
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Exogal has already stated that if this deal closes, they will not be responsible for any outstanding debt.
Mark has had many of you cancel your cancellations and reinstate orders that Exogal will have no responsibility to fulfill.
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@celander
Mark Schyfter has been stealing people’s money within our community for over a decade, all the while continually making promises of restoration in scenarios just like this.
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@underwoodwally
Making a decision to not be "back here" to speak to your largest potential audience, especially in light of all the as of now, stolen monies through undelivered /paid for orders, is in my opinion short sighted and a continuing of Schyfter's tradition of keeping people in the dark in order to manipulate them.
IMO to announce the purchase of the product lines with Schyfter keeping the rights to his company, all the while keeping the public relatively in the dark here, is simply another way that empowers and enables Mark to keep doing what he's been doing for over a decade. Keep ripping people off.
During the entire time that Mark has been stealing people's monies, there's been a parade of old industry insiders vouching for and enabling him at each step of the way. At this point, from my perspective, whether you purchase the company or not, the way that this whole process has been handled tells me you're just another convenient insider stepping in to help himself and Schyfter rehabilitate this whole debacle and take heat off Mark.
The only person that could have made this right was Dan Wright and Mark pulled out of that deal to try and keep his company, which he is doing, and close something better for himself.
Since the pulling out of the Modwright deal, everything here has been geared toward making a deal good for Mark and the buyer, while forgetting about the hundreds of ripped off buyers.
I own a CPT 1800, and will never buy another piece of CPT power equipment unless I can plainly see that every last buyer here with undelivered product has been made 100% whole in an open and completely transparent process on these boards.
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So you all are now getting promises of a July delivery for a product that still hasn't passed Beta testing...
And Mark still has all your monies, the ownership of CPT and the new owner of the Core-power and vapor-ware Deep Core product lines has no legal obligation to deliver to any of you anything.
All this after Mark backed out of an agreed to deal to sell CPT to Dan Wright who is one of the most respected and customer service focused Manufacturers in the Industry.
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@jackd
Ulterior motive?
What was it that I posted that wasn’t true? Mark’s been stealing from people for over 10 years. He tried to take my money on a Deep Core as well but I said no.
So far there hasn’t been a Deep Core beta test that could even power an entire system let alone make anything sound better. 2 systems were fried beta testing so far and a poster on these forums had to explain to Mark and his Team the reason for it. Lolz
Art several steps along the way Mark’s industry friends have come on to ’vouch’ for him, allowing this whole sad melodrama to continue.
This is crazy. 2 other whole threads about complaints and failures have been deleted. What other industry allows criminals to continually prey upon unsuspecting customers, and that for over a Decade?!?!
Thus whole episode has been unbelievable.
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@stereo5 @jackd
The reason I've posted on this and lots of other threads is because I am part of this community and I care about it. I could have just as easily not said anything because I was lucky enough to not get duped into buying a Deep Core. Others weren't so lucky and I post mu thoughts on their behalf.
If one group of us is preyed upon, our community is diminished and we all suffer.
I truly hope that everyone is made whole, and that Wally takes care of you all. |
@ozzy
I have to think that using anything but some of the most expensive high current conditioners in front of any balanced power units would tend towards limiting current and subsequently macro and micro dynamics.
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@ozzy
I'd probably try putting the 1800 first although I think they 5000 is pretty high current delivery. Maybe Paul's new top of the line Conditioner or the top of the line Audioquest might be a better choice than the 5000. Try them all in home first before buying and then open up your own thread. I'd love to hear your thoughts. 🍻 |
@ozzy
I'd be hesitant to put almost anything in the chain before or after my 1800. Even subtle changes in current delivery affect dynamics and soundstage on my BAT VK6200. |
@ozzy
How are you liking your new AQ power conditioner?
Please post a thread on it. I think lots of us would love to hear your thoughts. |
@sethmw2
Seth did you ever get a response????
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@amg56
What did you end up paying for those 2 1800's?
How much did you end up losing in making a "purchase" with Schifter?
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@amg56
Thanks for your response.
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@aniwolfe
There’s much better power conditioning products out there. @ozzy just mentioned one. Shunuata and IsoTek are 2 others. |
@droleg
You don't have to spend anymore than the CPT to beat it. Ozzy's bought the AQ 1000 and thought it outperformed his CPT. Ask him.
After messaging Ozzy, I bought a Puritan balanced power conditioner and it is incredible. Much much better dynamics with a lower noise floor.
There are much much better options out there than any CPT unit. |
