Man accused of failing to deliver $93,000 in Rolexes, tickets sold on eBay

SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) _ A man is accused of selling almost $100,000 worth of Rolex watches and professional sports tickets on the Web site eBay, but never delivering the goods. <br/><br/>Gilbert Vartanian

Friday, January 28th 2005, 8:35 am

By: News On 6

SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) _ A man is accused of selling almost $100,000 worth of Rolex watches and professional sports tickets on the Web site eBay, but never delivering the goods.

Gilbert Vartanian was arrested Thursday in the Sacramento suburb of Fremont on 12 counts of mail fraud.

Vartanian is accused of defrauding more than 10 victims of $93,324.52 between January 2001 and June 2004. He maintained at least three eBay accounts and more than a dozen user names, according to a federal grand jury indictment.

The victims believed they were buying Rolexes and tickets to the New York Knicks, Pittsburgh Steelers, New England Patriots, New York Giants, Green Bay Packers, Philadelphia 76ers and the New York Jets, and for boxing and auto racing events.

Vartanian told the buyer to send him money, but he would either not respond or send back an empty envelope or blank sheet of paper, prosecutors said.

The charges carry a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison. It was not immediately known if Vartanian had an attorney.