Father and Son Guilty in Vending machine scheme

sample vending machine 

According to the US Attorney's Office, New York, a father, 69 year old Kenneth Levin and his 33 year old son, Taylor Levin, 33, were found guilty in running a vending machine scheme in a nearly 11 million dollar fraud ripping off 1300 consumers from across the country. See story here... http://www.justice.gov/usao-sdny/pr/father-and-son-found-guilty-manhattan-federal-court-connection-multimillion-dollar.

Five persons plead guilty. One Stephen Friedman, is 78 years old.

could this be the same Kenneth Levin released back in 1988?

I looked up Kenneth Levin on the Bureau of Prison inmate locator and it shows someone with same name and age who was released in 1988 as noted above. If it is the same person, that means he would be a second time offender and that would raise his sentencing guideline.

Although the government does not mention the name of the company that they used to do their fraud but I found it by googling the names of the convicted ones at ripoffreport.com. The name was Flagship Marketing Vending and Evans Consulting. See full story here...http://www.ripoffreport.com/r/Flagship-Marketing/New-York-New-York-10018/Flagship-Marketing-Vending-Flagship-Marketing-Sold-Vending-Machines-under-the-pretense-t-401852

This is what one victim had to say and I quote the person..."I purchased 5 Fortune snack/drink combo machines after seeing an ad in my local paper in Charleston, SC. After speaking with Kelly Chase, Account Specialist, and based on her very persuasive selling techniques, I decided to puchase these machines because she told me I would net between 250 to 300 dollars a machine a week, which added up to 1250 to 1500 a week. Not bad money for a few hours a week work. 

Kelly promised the machines would be delivered and set up for me by a placement company by the name of Evans Consulting. They did show up and found placements, but I had to pay extra for them to set the machines up for me. Also the placements had other vending machines in their establishments which I was told would be removed.

After talking with the placement owners, they were never asked to remove the other vending machines and had no plans to do so. I was making about $30 a week on all 5 machines. I was also told I didn't need the bill changers, which was not true because all the locations did not have the means to make change for the machines. When asked how much they cost, they quoted me another $4000. I had just paid 15,000 for the machines and the installation, plus an additional $400 to get the machines moved.

I requested 5 new locations and was assured by Mr. Levin that they would pay for new locations for me. I wanted a refund for the first placement services, but was refused a refund.

The machines are manual and do not work very well. I have had to replace two coin holders and have only had the machines in service about 2 months.

I have been waitin for 3 weeks to get new placements with a new company working to help that occur. I am not confident that this will work and will be trying to sell the machines as soon as I get them in place again.

I feel I was lied to by Ms. Chase and definately taken for a ride by Flagship Marketing and Evans Consulting.

I would not do business with this company as I feel they are out for themselves and not willing to do what they say to make their customers happy".

Cindy
Mt. Pleasant, South Carolina
U.S.A.

Here is the rebuttal of the person who got convicted and I quote him...

"The new location company, has replaced 4 new locations for Ms. Ecleberry. We were not required to do this as we will always help our customers even though it is not Flagships responsibility. Ms. Ecleberry approved the first 5 locations and was really not entitled to replacement at our cost, that was a contract signed by Ms. Ecleberry and the location company.

As for the quote of $300 income, it was never quoted that she will earn $300 per week. We don't know what locations our customes are going to take so we can't perdict their income. The Vending Times article is where Ms. Ecleberry got this information. They say that the average income is approximately $250 per week. Average means you can make more or a lot less to get the average.

It is impossible for us to know if our customer will make the average."

Kenneth Levin
Flagship Marketing Group, Inc.
28 West 36th Street, Suite 902
New York, NY 10018
Voice: 1-800-877-1335 
Voice: 1-212-279-9700
Fax: 1-212-279-9790

It says in Jeremiah 17:11 when you make money dishonestly, you will lose it and in the end, be proved a fool.
Here, there is no question that these swindlers took advantage of consumers and they will pay a heavy price in prison. The two who went to trial are going to get hammered. They are facing on each count up to 20 years prison.

Here is another article from last year....http://www.vendingtimes.com/ME2/dirmod.asp?sid=&nm=Vending+Features&type=Publishing&mod=Publications%3A%3AArticle&mid=8F3A7027421841978F18BE895F87F791&tier=4&id=059EBC9A883542E0A2D5BED0C27E9764

I am no stranger to prison as I sat 1316 days in seven institutions. Trust me, for father Levin , a 68 year old man, it will be very difficult for him. His son, who is only 33, will have an easier time adjusting and trust me, I don't think they will be using any vending machines in jail.

To see what I went through and what they will be heading to, go here...http://www.amazon.com/PRISON-expect-Federal-Bureau-Prisons-ebook/dp/B011GTWLOG