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Key figure in $5 million eBay fraud gets 27 years

Date: 11/20/2008

A man prosecutors described as a leader in a scheme that swindled thousands of eBay bidders and other Internet users out of $5 million was sentenced Wednesday to 27 years in federal prison.

Adrian Florin Fechet, 39, a Romanian national, received one of the longest sentences in memory for a white-collar offense, prosecutors said.

U.S. District Judge John W. Darrah imposed the lengthy sentence after finding that Fechet was a leader in the scheme and had not taken responsibility for his crime.

Fechet had also engaged in identity theft, Darrah said.

Prosecutors said many victims made unsuccessful bids for items on eBay and were then told in Internet messages from the "seller" that they had a second chance to buy. Such messages, however, did not come from eBay but from other members of the fraud ring based in Romania, according to evidence at trial.

Buyers eager to take advantage of their supposed second chance sent money by wire to members of the ring in the United States, who then passed much of it on to confederates in Romania. But the would-be buyers got nothing in return.

Fechet was one of 21 individuals charged in the case. Three are fugitives and all but two of the others have received sentences ranging from two to eight years.

Federal prosecutors said there were more than 2,000 victims of the scam.