He Made $126 Million On Overpriced Printer Toner Scam, Now Jailed For 4 Years

A man who overcharged customers for printer toner has been sentenced to four years in federal prison after defrauding over 50,000 individuals over six decades, earning over $126 million along the way.

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NY Times

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As per the press release shared by the US Department of Justice, (highlighted by Vice) the perpetrator, Gilbert Michaels owned IDC Servco and Mytel International. He used to sell toner with the help of high-pressure call centres at prices over the retail price.

They would call companies telling them that the price of the toner had skyrocketed. However, they had the option to purchase toner in bulk to lock in a lower price. Victims felt the deal was legit and would eventually go ahead and sign order confirmation forms.

Soon after, IDC would ship the toner to the victims with invoices demanding payment of toners at increased prices. If a victim would call to complain, the companies would threaten to sue the victim for non-payment of the toner.

Even if a small business tried to ask them to take the toner back they would levy more charges in the form of restocking fees.

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This surprisingly wasnĄ¯t his first kerfuffle with the DOJ. Michaels and his companies were under scrutiny in 1988 when the companies were reprimanded for making false statements and were forced to use an independent sales company to move printer toner.

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DOJ highlights that Michaels violated the previous warnings by financing to the supposedly independent boiler rooms that were conducted in the aforementioned fraudulent practices even after IDC received numerous complaints from the victims claiming that they had been defrauded.

Michaels was found guilty on one count of conspiracy to commit mail fraud, 10 counts of mail fraud and five counts of money laundering. For more technology news and science updates, keep reading Indiatimes.com.