LAWFUEL – The Legal Newswire – The victim of a fraudster who stole $32,000 in computer parts is unhappy with Duane ‘Dog’ Chapman, TV’s Bounty Hunter series star, the Vancouver Sun reports.
This follows the conviction of in Canada of Charles David Parent, 40, who pleaded guilty to fraud over $5,000 in provincial court in New Westminster, Vancouver last week for his involvement in the elaborate scheme to get the bounty hunter’s endorsement for his brand of computer coolant systems. He received three year’s prison for his activities.
The victim of the scam, Carole Stone of Cloverdale Computers, says if Duane (Dog) Chapman has been using her computer parts for free, he should pay her back.
“A guy’s been convicted of fraud for the property the Dog is using,” said Stone, 57, who has been selling computers in Surrey for five years. “The most wonderful thing would be if he would pay for it, seeing as how he’s got money and he’s been using it all this time.”
The tattooed Chapman is a gruff ex-con who returns fugitives to Hawaii law enforcement on camera. Neither Chapman nor A&E, which carries his show, could be reached for comment Thursday, but New Westminster police say Chapman likely acted in good faith.
Stone and Parent, who also goes by Chase Quinn, first met in November 2006, she said. Parent ordered several LCD computer screens and parts for his company, New Westminster-based Tsunami Liquid Cooled Computers, which had an office on 12th Street.
Stone checked him out, found he had a business licence with New Westminster and was registered with Industry Canada, and made the deal.
“It was $32,000 in one month,” said Stone, adding that was a lot of money for her small, five-year-old computer building firm. “He had me running around like I didn’t have a head. I kept putting his cheques in, and it was a nightmare when I found out later.”
Her bank refused to cash the cheques, and police later discovered they’d been forged. Stone, who paid for the parts up front, was hit with high credit card bills and her bank account was shut down for overdrafts.
“It’s the most stress I’ve ever had… it was totally destructive.”
Parent claimed he was friends with Chapman, and told Stone he built the computers to send to the TV star.
