Real live COPS! Busted scammer/thief! True story!

[kiesan]

OK folks this is a true story. Not much Porsche content although I do drive my C2 in it. I left out the names of all the victims to protect their privacy although I feel absolutely no remorse pasting the name of the bad guy all over the internet.

The follwing is a copy of my statement I turned into Seattle Police in regards to my involvement with apprehending a check scammer/vehicle thief this last weekend:




12/14/05

To whom it may concern:

RE: Michael Knight fraud case with Store A and Store B.

My name is Kie C. Robertson. I own and operate Red Label Moto (1527 Harvard Avenue, Seattle, WA 98122) a used-only motorcycle store.

Perhaps 2 months ago, I replied to an ad on Craigslist for a Brand B motorcycle with an advertised price of $6500 which is about $2000 below the retail price.

The person who replied back, Michael Knight, said he had the bike in his possession and he could show it to me on that Monday evening. When he arrived on the bike that evening at my shop, we recognized each other from when he was a customer at a former workplace of mine, a motorcycle store, way back in 1998.

The bike was clean as described, although he provided no proof of ownership nor did he have a license plate on the bike. He explained that he liked to ride fast hence no plate. I asked where he bought the bike, and he said he bought it new at another dealer in Vancouver, WA. for a great price. I expressed interest in purchasing the bike if he could provide proof of ownership and he suggested we meet the following morning and he would have that and I could pay him the $6500 in cash. That next day, the next couple weeks, actually, he never returned any of my calls or answered any of my emails about the Brand B bike.

Perhaps 3 days after meeting with Mr. Knight about the Brand B bike, my phone rang and it was a motorcycle wholesaler who sometimes calls me with bikes for sale. He told me about a couple bikes he had and then he mentioned a Brand B bike that fit the description of the bike Mr. Knight had shown me. Turns out he bought it from Mr. Knight for $6500 and was now offering it to me for $7500. At first I was upset with myself for missing out on a good deal but then I learned that Mr. Wholesaler was still waiting for the title from Mr. Knight so I suspected something was not right. But oh well... not my problem anymore.

Perhaps 2 weeks after that, I was at Store B on other business. I happened to ask the owner if he had ever heard of a Michael Knight. The owner literally turned white and asked what I knew about him. I shared with him my experience thus far with Mr. Knight and he explained that Mr. Knight had purchased the Brand B bike from them (he had lied to me about buying the bike in Vancouver) and he had paid with $13,000 check written on a closed account. Mr. Knight was then allowed to leave with the bike after writing the check.

I told Store B owner that I knew the whereabouts of his (essentially) stolen bike. I gave him the wholesaler's phone number and told Store B owner that, as I far as I knew, he still had the bike and was waiting for the title from Michael Knight.

Fast forward to Saturday, 12/10/05. At about 11:45am, an ad appeared on Craigslist for a Brand A motorcycle for $14,500 which is about $6k below retail. I responded to the ad via email at about 12:15pm and I was soon involved in negotiations with a "Kevin Renalds" about the bike. He told me that he was pulling the bike from storage and also another person was interested who could include an Xbox 360 video game. I told him I could do the same and I could pay immediately.

As a sidenote, the description of the Brand A motorcycle in question was very similar to one I knew belonged to one of the owner's of Store A. I had heard from the new GM there, that that particular bike had been sold or was being sold. While I was waiting to hear from "Kevin", I called Store A GM and asked him if the name of the person who bought the Brand A bike from them. I asked if it was Kevin Renalds and he replied back, no, the person's name was Michael Tice.

"Kevin" said OK to my offer of $14.5k cash and an Xbox 360 and told me he would stop by later that afternoon. He then stopped contact via email and I feared it was another scam or I had been too slow. Oh well. Then, my phone rang about 7:30pm and this time it was Michael Knight. He claimed to not recognize who I was from our experience before but then he finally "remembered".

I did not let on that I had heard all about his check scam at Store B or the fact that I knew who had actually bought the Brand B bike from him. I just played along, and expressed my disappointment in missing out on the Brand B bike. He said he understood, and mentioned that he sold it to his dad. Now that that was water under the bridge, he would let me buy the Brand A bike.

He rode over to my shop about 8:30pm Saturday night 12/10/05. The bike was as described, and I said I would buy it as long as he could provide some sort of proof of ownership. He said that he had just put the title in his name the previous Thursday, and he didn't have the title yet. I said no cash until proof of ownership and we decided to wait until Monday 12/12/05 and get it sorted out. He felt comfortable enough to leave the bike and key with me locked in my shop, and I gave him a ride in my car to another part of the Seattle area. Our plan was to meet Monday night at my bank (Wells Fargo) and do the exchange once he produced a title or some sort of proof of ownership.

On Monday afternoon, I checked with WA DMV and sure enough the bike was registered to the person who I thought owned it in the first place, one of the majority shareholder's of Store A. Clearly, this bike had been sold or had at least originated there. I then called the shareholder's cell number to get GM's home or cell number since Store A is closed on Mondays. Couldn't get GM on the phone so I got another number for the other partner in Store A I know.

That partner in Store A answered right away Monday evening about 5pm. I quickly explained what was happening and needless to say he was glad to hear I had the bike in my possession. He explained that Michael Knight had written a $24,000 check that he claimed was from his parents at about 6:30pm Saturday night 12/10/05. Mr. Knight was then allowed to leave on "his" new bike and he basically rode straight to my shop on Capitol Hill in Seattle. When I had called Store A and asked for the name of the person buying the bike, the GM mistakenly told me "Tice" and not "Knight", otherwise I would have known something was up right away.

Meanwhile, Mr. Knight was expecting to meet me at my bank (Wells Fargo on 14th and John) at 6pm or so to do the exchange. It was a little after 5pm and I went to the Seattle Police precinct on 12th and Pine. I explained everything the best I could to the officer behind the window and he managed to alert a detective who was just leaving for home. I then called Mr. Knight and fabricated a family emergency excuse to put him off until Tuesday morning 12/13/05.

The detective and another officer met with us (Store A partner had arrived by then) and took all our information. He told us to come back at 8am Tuesday 12/13/05 and the morning crew would take over.

We arrived Tuesday morning and a Police Sergeant and Detective took all our info again and they had me call Mr. Knight and arrange a meeting. Mr. Knight wanted to meet in Everett so I picked the Wells Fargo on Evergreen Way near Everett Mall. 10:30am was the arranged meeting time.

The Sergeant had me hold back in my car from the Wells Fargo parking lot until he had scoped it out and got into position. He called me at 10:15am and told me to drive up and wait. Mr. Knight then arrived at maybe 10:25am in a white 90's Toyota Land Cruiser with no plates. Mr. Knight parked, walked over to me in my car and we greeted each other. He had in his hand a packet with the extra key to the bike and the paperwork from Store A from his "purchase".

The Sergeant and his partner then drove up in their unmarked car and arrested Mr. Knight. A lot of other police then arrived and after a short while I was told I could go.

Any other questions I can answer or information I can provide please do not hesitate to call.

Kie C. Robertson

[Hugh R]

Great read, good for you. Book em' Dano! (From the TV show Hawaii 5-0 if your too young).

[Oh Haha]

Did he arrive in a Black 82 Trans Am?






Oh, c'mon all you guys are thinking it!!!!!

Great to hear you got some dirtbag scammer busted. Hopefully he won't be able to do this to someone else.

[Craig 930 RS]

"At about 11:45am, an ad appeared on Craigslist for a Brand A motorcycle for $14,500 which is about $6k below retail. I responded to the ad via email at about 12:15pm and I was soon involved in negotiations with a "Kevin Renalds" about the bike. He told me that he was pulling the bike from storage and also another person was interested who could include an Xbox 360 video game. I told him I could do the same and I could pay immediately."


Do you think any of your actions were questionable or at the least responding to questionable 'too good to be true' activity?

[kiesan]

Originally posted by Oh Haha
Did he arrive in a Black 82 Trans Am?






Oh, c'mon all you guys are thinking it!!!!!

Great to hear you got some dirtbag scammer busted. Hopefully he won't be able to do this to someone else.

When I was emailing him the very first time I thought it must be scam with a name like Michael Knight. That is his real name, though. Both stores have copies of his ID that I saw.

[kiesan]

Originally posted by Craig911
"At about 11:45am, an ad appeared on Craigslist for a Brand A motorcycle for $14,500 which is about $6k below retail. I responded to the ad via email at about 12:15pm and I was soon involved in negotiations with a "Kevin Renalds" about the bike. He told me that he was pulling the bike from storage and also another person was interested who could include an Xbox 360 video game. I told him I could do the same and I could pay immediately."


Do you think any of your actions were questionable or at the least responding to questionable 'too good to be true' activity?

Good question. Well, the Brand A bike for $14.5k is really just about what a dealer would expect to pay. At that point I had no reason to believe for sure there was foul play but it was sure a possibility. I figured I could ride it out to the end and see what happened.

[9dreizig]

Excellant!!!

[kycarguy 935]

Good Job Kiesan.

[kiesan]

Originally posted by kycarguy 935
Good Job Kiesan.

Thank you although I have to be completely honest. My intentions were at first to purchase the Brand A bike for $14.5k and I was going to try every legitimate way possible to do that.

Once I knew it was a scam, I then made it my mission to put this piece of trash where he belongs. Both Store B and especially Store A have more than fairly extended me several "favors" as a result of all this for which I am very grateful.

[Craig 930 RS]

Got it. Glad you came out ok!

[LakeCleElum]

Great job on your part Kie....Many would have not picked up on the "lies" or just walked away....We need more like you out there!!!!!

[JR_NYC]

Hopefully this dude doesn't come to your house looking to get even after he's done his time or even worse, gets off.

[Joeaksa]

Glad you brought this one down. Life is hard enough without scammers like this around.

Joe A

[Porschekid962]

Wow thats a great job! Those Italians really demand a premium. I have been lookin for a monster and the prices on those compared to the kawi and other japanese "cafe" and "streetfighter" bikes is pretty unreal.

All in all glad to see he got nabbed, you wonder what happened with the car he rolled up in...

[wheatdog]

I often see way underpriced, almost new Yamaha R-1's, 600's and comprable Kawasaki's on Ebay alot. I don't even check them out. Got to be scam action. Wish Ebay could sort those clowns out. Same old Sh**. Bike is out of country but can be shipped after receipt of American $$. Or I'm selling for a friend who is presently unavailable. Yadayada.

Mike

[RickM]

Great story. Sounds like he was pulling the same crap with the Landcruiser.

[CBRacerX]

Great to hear one where the good guys win

[Grady Clay]

Good for you!


When you are in business, or simply looking for something, you need to pursue every lead and be ready with spot cash. You also need to be careful.

There are several ways to protect yourself. If someone can’t product the actual title and lien release, a “Sight Draft” is a great solution. It is bank check in the form of an envelope. The seller puts the required documents in the envelope and sends it just like a regular check. Your bank inspects the documents and if all is in order, pays the check. Automobile dealers use this all the time because they never trust each other. Banks are far more trustworthy.

If you have any suspicion, you can have your local police or sheriff check NCIC to see if it has been reported stolen.

You can always take a photocopy of the title (usually not valid for transfer) to the DMV and verify it is correct. Someone tried to scam me once with a clear title and it turned out he had declared the title “lost,” got a replacement and then a lien on it.

The alleged common thief Michael Knight was caught because he was operating in a “small pond” where Kie, A & B all knew each other. The difficulty comes in the much larger cesspool called ebay. I don’t think you can be too careful.


We should all be very proud of what Kie did. It is easy to just walk away. That just lets the crook scam someone else. It takes a “stand-up” person to make the world (or our own little piece of it) a better place. This was at considerable time and effort on his part with little material reward. There is the greater satisfaction in knowing you did “The Right Thing.”

Good for you Kie

Best,
Grady

[rcecale]

Grady,

Sent you an e-mail yesterday. Didja receive it?

Oh, and Kie, Waytago, man! Gotta love it when the good guys prevail!

Randy

[DW SD]

Originally posted by kiesan
When I was emailing him the very first time I thought it must be scam with a name like Michael Knight. That is his real name, though. Both stores have copies of his ID that I saw.

The Michael Knight part seemed bogus to me too. Funny that is his real name! The Knight Rider foundation would be shamed!!

Good work, I'd like to say I would have done the same thing, but I might not have had the perserverence to help lock down that piece of trash.

Good on you!!

Doug