Stolen engine

[tim79euro]

OK Everybody, I did what I probably shouldn't have and purchased an engine from someone that I had suspicions about (I'll go into great detail later). Dubious communication, no history on Paypal etc. But I was excited and Enthusiastic, as well as a trusting person by nature...
Bought a complete running engine from this guy (1970 2.2, with video of it running)...with everything, carbs. to exhaust to clutch and flywheel... well I was delivered a pretty tired looking long-block.... and that's it. No carbs, no intakes, no tin, no heat exchangers, no exhaust... not complete like I purchased. tons of sh.. packed into the intake ports....sand, rust, you name it.... upper valve covers had been off (nuts were lost)and there was rust on rocker arm assemblies and lo' and behold it is a 2.4, not a 2.2. given the date stamps on the heads (8/72). After badgering the guy via phone and email he agreed to send me the remaining stuff.... a week after it was supposed to have been shipped, and the guy refuses to answer phone or text, or email. I call the shipping comp. to find out that there was never any shipment from his place or name to anyone with my name or address...! I file a dispute through paypal.. He finally returns a communication through payapl, stating that he told me the shipping would be too much money, and so he was not going to do it.... (He Didn't call or email or text any of that .....Super!) but he'd be happy to refund 500 of 1600 spent.... or I could return the whole thing to him for a full refund. I agreed to retuning the block for my refund. long story short, I work out a way for me to return the engine to him at the same time he refunds my money. (i'll turn it over to the shipping comp. only after I see the funds in my paypal acccount) But through further looking at the engine I realize the serial numbers had been filed off!! which means to me that this engine was stolen at some point. So now I'm really screwed... I'm in possession of a stolen 2.4 liter porsche engine. So, this worthless f*** backs out of the deal, and changes his phone number. (so I would stop bothering him). I try one last time to make him see the light, after having spoken to my local police about the crimes that are happening, I email him outlining the penalties of interstate fraudulant sales , as well as trafficking in stolen goods (for all I know, he might've done more). The interstate stuff becomes a federal offense, the trafficking in stolen goods might be just local... but it was sold across state lines too... plus the civil suit for my losses, and tell him that if he thinks I was bothering him now. Wait until he has an officer knocking on his door with federal crime charges, as well as subpeonas for small claims court.
Believe it or not he emailed me right back saying blah, blah, blah. I'll get your money back today..... and then tomorrow. ....and 3 days later I still haven't seen it. The Detective I'm speaking to is out in training and I'm waiting for him to return to help me sort through this mess.

One of my reasons for this whole story is to post the engine on here to see if anyone remembers working on this engine and who it mightv'e belonged to in the past. I purchased it out of San Diego -storage unit in Chula Vista, and the guys whole unit was filled with porsche stuff (I'll track down those pics and post them also)
The engine has some mixed heads on it, and I'll post which and where, so maybe we can begin tracking this stuff to a former owner. My take is this guy deals like this on a fairly regular basis. through my experience I'd bet quite alot of stuff in his storage unit is hot.
I'd love to get my money back from him easily, but I've reseigned myself to taking the longer route of litigation. I'll have to surrender the long-block to my local police, and start the long process of small claims court etc. At this point it's the priciple of the thing. I refuse to use or have anything to do with somebodies stolen engine... how did it become stolen? was his whole car stripped? Was it a robbery with violence involved? ...man, that would be a bad way to start a restoraion. So here are a few photos, I'll post more. and I'll let everyone know how this process is going.
Anybody on here an attorney with any sage advice?

Thanks for your time. Tim

[wildcat077]

Hey Tim

I hope you get your money back and nail this guy's ass to the wall ...
Cheers !

Phil

[dad911]

can't you dispute the whole thing with paypal?

And if you used a credit card to fund paypal, dispute the charge with your credit card company.

[wildcat077]

All Paypal will do is maybe freeze the guy's account for a while .... until he creates another one using another name and email address.
Went through this last Winter on a 600.00 dollar transaction.Paypal offered me $30.00 dollars as a good will gesture ... Some help ...

Cheers !
Phil

[topcarbon]

are there no physical addresses?

btw, that sucks.

[Por_sha911]

File a dispute directly with your credit card company and Paypal will start jumping through hoops. It still is a long battle but you should get all your money back minus shipping that boat anchor back. Do not deal with Paypal-they could care less. Its only when the CC company stops payment that they claim "gosh if we had known..." but stay with the CC co. I had a guy rip me off by shipping a defective camera and then try to insist I file a damage claim with the Post Office (even though there was no damage to the box). I filed with the CC and after several months of BS I finally got my money back.

[Danny_Ocean]

I say name names/e-mail address. It's worked here before.

[Drdogface]

Dunno what name this guy gave you but bet I know who it is. Infamous Pelican, booted off many times) has been running such a scam or decades. He is now scheduled for trial in, I think, Victorville. MANY Pelicans have been ripped off by this guy in the last 8-10 years. He is out on bail pending trial. First thing to do is visit or call the storage facility and get the name of the guy who rented it. Then PM me or Joeaksa for further info. It may not be 'our guy' but sure sounds like him.

[Tom '74 911]

I was taken on a 3.6L engine I purchased through eBay last winter. I filed a dispute through eBay, PayPal (which I think are the same entity) and my CC company. I did get my money back through eBay but it took a lot of time, energy and angry emails and phone calls. The a$$wipe that I dealt with went by the name of Brad Weber - although I doubt that's his real name. I spoke to him on the phone a number of times before making the purchase and he seemed very legit. He knew Porsches VERY well and could talk the talk. He took pictures of the engine w/that day's newspaper on it for me! In retrospect, he was VERY good at what he did - scamming me and at least one other guy at the same time. Never again will I make a big purchase like that over the internet.

It was without a doubt one of the most frustrating experiences I have been through - to be bent over like that. I had many sleepless nights and spent a few weeks filled with anger - which is not a nice way to be!

I hope the best for you and your situation.

Tom

[Gwyn911]

Hi Tim, bad news about this deal. You state that the engine number has been ground down. It should still be there, local police vehicle examiner should be able to use a process of heat and chemical to retrieve the ground down engine number from the block. Good luck.

[azasadny]

I'm sorry to hear about this unpleasant experience. I bought a 2.7 engine "complete" from a fellow Pelican (Gib Bosworth) back in 2006 and it was exactly as described and runs great! I wish you could have had the same positive experience I had!

[Quicksilver]

... Also if you add to your PayPal dispute that he sold stolen property that should get them to deny any claim to money that he has.

Oh and reporting it to your credit card company is excellent advice.

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BTW - PayPal likes to default to a direct cash transfer which doesn't give you the protection of a credit card. Always change the payment method to credit card.