The Case of the eBay Chili Peppers

[junkman_56]

A really nice piece of research.
Thank you for sharing your findings with the group.

Have you emailed the Fuente's regarding this?

 

[jlada]

By the way, the internet is a scary thing... have fun!

His name is Craig D. Mandell, he's 52.

CRAIG MANDELL
104 NORTHBROOK DR
WEST HARTFORD, CT 06117
(860) 236-1117
(860) 594-2097
craig.mandell@po.state.ct.us

His neighborhood area:

His city, the yellow dot is his house:

A good shot of his quaint little house:

Don't do anything stupid! This is all taken from publicly available records.

Edit: Who in that area wants to knock on his door and get a picture for an Opus X RdC?

Edit2: Someone with really good connections -- feel free to forward that to the Fuente family courtesy of me.

 

[KayakinBoy]

Didn't people get arrested for selling fake Padrons? Let's bust this guy!

 

[Big Stick]

That is so FFing funny :laugh: :laugh:

 

[moki]

That's good work Andrew.

Will it alert Fuente or do they just not care? After all, vendors sell Fuente wares for whatever price takes their fancy. If Fuente were pissed off by
folks messing with their MSRP, they would have put a stop to it years ago.

I contacted them -- I'm not sure what they can or will do. But it can't hurt...

 

[Tapewormboy]

I don't think posting his personal information on this forum will be productive. Nor is it in good form...

 

[grateful1]

He works for the Department of Transportation.

 

[sinnyc]

He works for the Department of Transportation.

ROFL

Is it a felony for using parcel carriers to transport counterfeit items across state lines?

 

[grateful1]

594 is the DOT - I just called, he stepped away from his office.

 

[jlada]

I don't think posting his personal information on this forum will be productive. Nor is it in good form...

Well, considering...

He has given his name. That is public information.
He gives his location (city, state) on his eBay account. That is public information.
He uses a phonebook-listed landline telephone number. That is public information.

Using that powerful combination, anyone can get the information I posted in under 2 minutes. It's not hard. It's not like I'm some sort of investigator or bought something from him to obtain a return address.

Heck, for a small fee, I can obtain a criminal info check, sex offender check, his credit history (bankruptcy, etc), address history, lists of his relatives, his home value, any traffic offenses he's had, etc, etc, etc. Without meeting the man, I can tell you his weight, eye color, hair color, etc.

If I lived in his town, I could get it for free with a little study time. It's all public info. Scary, yes. Legal, yes.

 

[Matt R]

Scary, yes. Legal, yes.

Ethical....... well, yes if you're an attorney, I guess.

 

[jlada]

Ethical....... well, yes if you're an attorney, I guess.

This "shadycigar" clown lost his right to play the "ethics card" when he started selling fake cigars on eBay.

 

[KayakinBoy]

One big question has to be, has any body bought these and then traded on this site, or another forum?? ???

 

[Tapewormboy]

I don't think posting his personal information on this forum will be productive. Nor is it in good form...

Well, considering...

He has given his name. That is public information.
He gives his location (city, state) on his eBay account. That is public information.
He uses a phonebook-listed landline telephone number. That is public information.

Using that powerful combination, anyone can get the information I posted in under 2 minutes. It's not hard. It's not like I'm some sort of investigator or bought something from him to obtain a return address.

Heck, for a small fee, I can obtain a criminal info check, sex offender check, his credit history (bankruptcy, etc), address history, lists of his relatives, his home value, any traffic offenses he's had, etc, etc, etc. Without meeting the man, I can tell you his weight, eye color, hair color, etc.

If I lived in his town, I could get it for free with a little study time. It's all public info. Scary, yes. Legal, yes.

I'm not trying to get into an argument about legal or ethical issues...I just don't think posting that info on this thread will help us solve the mystery of where these Chili Peppers are coming from.

I think my first post was fairly objective in that sense.

moki, thank you for the great investigative work!!! :thumbs:

 

[jlada]

Oh, I wasn't offended at all, I wasn't trying to start an argument either. I'm just saying... you screw over the cigar community, the cigar community bites back. If that information helps the Fuente's stop him from selling blatantly counterfeit cigars, then so be it. I also wouldn't be opposed to someone from that area dropping by his house and asking if he has any Chili Peppers .

 

[moki]

I'm not trying to get into an argument about legal or ethical issues...I just don't think posting that info on this thread will help us solve the mystery of where these Chili Peppers are coming from.

I think my first post was fairly objective in that sense.

moki, thank you for the great investigative work!!! :thumbs:

True, but knowing the guy's name and location may help prevent people from falling for it again if he changes his eBay handle, etc.

 

[Matt R]

The lady next door to the young gilr on My Space didn't think what she was doing was unethical either. Until someone proves to me that this person is doing this with knowledge that he is selling counterfeits, I consider the posting of his public info on THIS board as unethical. Now, do I disagree with posting of public information for everyone? I think moki knows my answer to this, as I have supported his "research in the past.

 

[moki]

The lady next door to the young gilr on My Space didn't think what she was doing was unethical either. Until someone proves to me that this person is doing this with knowledge that he is selling counterfeits, I consider the posting of his public info on THIS board as unethical. Now, do I disagree with posting of public information for everyone? I think moki knows my answer to this, as I have supported his "research in the past.

Understood -- and I agree to an extent. The problem is, how do you definitively prove said info? I think the best you can ever do is a preponderance of the evidence. A similar problem faces The Scumbags List.

 

[preembargo]

The man claims that he gets these directly from the Fuente factory because they owe him a "favor". He's a lying thief.

edit for spelling

 

[Ginseng]

The problem is, how do you definitively prove said info? I think the best you can ever do is a preponderance of the evidence. A similar problem faces The Scumbags List.

The scumbag list has other issues that extend beyond its standard of acceptable evidence. Not just what shall be accepted as a preponderance, but the very definition of what counts as admissible, reasonable evidence and the standards for judging assertions and claims as such.

There's a whole ethos undercurrent behind that list, that frankly, disturbs me.

Wilkey