A man who defrauded more than $700,000 from customers in an internet scam run out of a Coupeville house pleaded guilty to theft and money laundering charges recently.
Roman Y. Ogourtsov, 37, ran a website that sold high-end television sets that never arrived.
He pleaded guilty in Island County Superior Court April 23 to theft in the first degree with aggravating circumstances and four counts of money laundering. The aggravating circumstances, which allow for a sentence above the standard range, is that the crime was a major economic offense.
Under the plea bargain, the state agrees not to recommend more than 30 months in prison at the sentencing hearing, which will be in October.
The prosecution will recommend that Ogourtsov pay $759,000 in restitution with initial payments of $500 a month.
In addition, Ogourtsov will be prohibited from selling or marketing electronics online.
Robert Simon, of Nevada, said he was one of the victims, though he is not one of the 17 victims listed in court papers. In 2013, he ordered a large television set from a website that looked professional and had good deals.
When the TV didn’t arrive, Simon said he repeatedly contacted Ogourtsov and was told over and over again that it was one its way.
“He is smooth, I’ll tell you,” Simon said.
But Simon eventually realized it was never coming and contacted the FBI.
That same year, Lt. Mike Hawley of the Island County Sheriff’s Office started investigating after a man in California complained he was ripped off by Ogourtsov’s company. The man said he ordered a plasma TV for nearly $5,000 from the website toplinetvs.com. He got a phone call from a sales manager — allegedly Ogourtsov — who asked him to wire the funds, which the man eventually did.
The man never received the TV and contacted the sheriff’s office after getting the run-around from the company.
Hawley contacted Ogourtsov, who claimed his business was legitimate and that he sold about 30 TVs a day over the internet.
Hawley found that Ogourtsov was the suspect in three fraud cases in Mukilteo involving high-end TVs. In those cases the “sales manager” also convinced customers to wire money, but TVs never arrived, the report states.
Hawley contacted the state Attorney General’s Office. An investigator in the Consumer Protection Division had compiled a list of more than 100 complaints against Ogourtsov and his websites.
The AG pressured Ogourtsov to refund the money but less than 19 percent was returned, the report states.
Investigators served a search warrant on Ogourtsov’s home in 2014 and recovered two laptops. The investigator found a long list of invoices from customers, as well as information about four bank accounts used to receive checks and wire transfers, the report states.
Hawley’s report alleges Ogourtsov received more than $1 million from 385 customers from September 2012 to January 2014.
