$2.4 Million in stolen skis/gear from Aspen SkiCo, sold on Ebay

[SumJongGuy]

Receiving stolen property.

THIS. Everyone who bought the gear that the authorities can establish a paper trail to (eBay has probably been subpoenaed and handed over those records) will probably be asked/forced to return the gear or provide an additional paper trail proving they sold/gave/donated/whatever as legit proof they don't still have the stolen gear.

[glademaster]

THIS. Everyone who bought the gear that the authorities can establish a paper trail to (eBay has probably been subpoenaed and handed over those records) will probably be asked/forced to return the gear or provide an additional paper trail proving they sold/gave/donated/whatever as legit proof they don't still have the stolen gear.

STFUYFM

[papapoopski]

Crazy story but not surprising.

I have done consulting work for a small, well-off company. The lack of financial oversight in the dept. I looked at was shocking.

[SumJongGuy]

THIS. Everyone who bought the gear that the authorities can establish a paper trail to (eBay has probably been subpoenaed and handed over those records) will probably be asked/forced to return the gear or provide an additional paper trail proving they sold/gave/donated/whatever as legit proof they don't still have the stolen gear.

STFUYFM

Clearly you're not familiar with how insurance companies operate, especially after having to pay out a large claim. If they can't recoup the funds from the people who sold them they will go after the people who bought them. Ignorance is no excuse when it comes to shit like this. Not all that different from buying a stolen car without knowing it was stolen.

[Norseman]

Heh... This reminds me of the Shot 10 bathroom chalet at Alpental. Area employees (I think) got creative one season and created a living space up in the rafters of the restroom building.

Ha, I hadn't heard that one before. Glamorous

[iceman]

Well at least they had a bathroom handy.

[SumJongGuy]

they ain’t comin after the unsuspecting buyer for used skis

They're looking to recoup a million dollars. Don't think they'll get much of it but they'll certainly examine the feasibility of trying to get back what they can. If I bought a pair last month I'd be expecting contact from someone. If I bought a pair three years ago probably not..

[ACH]

Ha, I hadn't heard that one before. Glamorous

Never underestimate dirt-bag ingenuity when it comes to the mediocre.

[The AD]

It is stolen property, after all. There isn't some rule saying you get to keep it just because you didn't know it was stolen.

[ACH]

Regardless of specific laws that pertain to stolen items, from a business standpoint there is law of diminishing return that will likely dictate what steps are taken next. Tracking down and retrieving gear from a bunch of individual buyers, not to mention shipping cost may require more overhead and headache than the company will want to absorb relative to what they will recover. It seems more likely to me that they will write off the loss.

[The AD]

Probably true. I do think they'll be interested in finding a buyer for that $100k boat, though!

[SumJongGuy]

It is stolen property, after all. There isn't some rule saying you get to keep it just because you didn't know it was stolen.

According to Judge Google, in some states you can even be prosecuted. .. but usually only if the circumstances would dictate any reasonable person should have suspected the deal was too good to be true. Penalties are usually not very severe for naive mistakes.

They can definitely make you return the stolen property and your only recourse for compensation falls back to the thief you bought the goods from in the first place. You're SOL.

[Benny Profane]

They're looking to recoup a million dollars. Don't think they'll get much of it but they'll certainly examine the feasibility of trying to get back what they can. If I bought a pair last month I'd be expecting contact from someone. If I bought a pair three years ago probably not..

Dude, really, they have better things to do. This isn't Madoff. What, do you think that somebody is going to go after pairs of skis, one by one, collect them, and what, sell them? Think of how much that costs.

[SumJongGuy]

Dude, really, they have better things to do.

Probably won't go after one off buyers years ago but it looked like they sold a lot in bulk to other resellers too. Bet they try to go after folks who bought stacks of them.

[GeoMatt]

Receiving stolen property.

No kidding. You're such a genius.

If someone wants to show up at my door and prove to me that these are their skis they can have them. But show up with paperwork that has serial numbers matching the skis and bindings.

[lifelinksplit]

STFUYFM

Someone really needs to revive that alias...

[pepperdawg]

Someone really needs to revive that alias...

And Ogre - we need Ogre back.

[LHutz Esq]

Probably true. I do think they'll be interested in finding a buyer for that $100k boat, though!

Didn’t the lawyer say that the only asset was the home?

So boat may be a lease, borrowed, secured by bank etc etc etc.

[Benny Profane]

Or stolen.

[ACH]

Or stolen.

Ha, so they are also pirates on top of everything else.

[Dee Hubbs]

Didn’t the lawyer say that the only asset was the home?

So boat may be a lease, borrowed, secured by bank etc etc etc.

"Johnson’s lawyer said the couple own only their employee-housing unit in Aspen and no other "property""

[schindlerpiste]

At the very least, in all likelihood they are going to lose their sweet employee
housing deal

[Thurgood Jenkins]

Surely someone's got to know these guys.

[LHutz Esq]

"Johnson’s lawyer said the couple own only their employee-housing unit in Aspen and no other "property""

Boats are called personal property in legal dentistry.

If your trying to convince a judge that your client is broke - you better mention the 100g boat if it exists.

[skideeppow]

Surely someone's got to know these guys.

Most of us who live in town know him.