Long Ball Larry
Footballguy
dawgshed claims he punched a hole in the wall of a Sirius hallway.
Interesting story from his earlier life.
August 21, 1988Man Held in Light Bulb and Sunglasses FraudBy PETER KERRThe target was ''Tex-Moishe,'' a swindler of sunglasses, a master predator of packaging tape, a brigand who fleeced his way up and down the East Coast, stealing millions from merchants of light bulbs.Until a suspect was arrested Friday, the police said, he was known as the most brilliant swindler in the world of pedestrian products.And although the army of detectives on his trail in recent months had never seen his face, they knew him by the two voices he used - one of a Texan, the other of a New Yorker whose talk was dotted with Yiddish.''This guy was very different from anything we had ever encountered,'' said Lieut. John E. Kelly, the commanding officer of the special frauds squad of the New York City Police Department, which at times had assigned as many as 25 detectives, 15 vehicles and a helicopter to the light bulb investigation.''He was very, very cautious,'' Lieutenant Kelly said. ''He had a tremendous amount of discipline. He ran complex operations all around the country and he seemed to be working alone.''On Friday afternoon, the police arrested a man they identified as Elliot Keith Offen, 35 years old, at a telephone booth at the corner of 58th Street and Seventh Avenue, where they said he was attempting to consummate one of dozens of illegal deals he had conducted in recent years. The deals, Lieutenant Kelly said, had earned Mr. Offen more than $15 million.Mr. Offen, according to charges filed against him, would convince manufacturers of such products as light bulbs, tape, sunglasses or luggage to provide large shipments to him on consignment. He would represent himself as the head of a legitimate company in their industry, and ask for 30 days to pay for the goods. He would quickly sell the products to an unsuspecting buyer, and then disappear before the manufacturer could find him.His operation involved the use of almost a dozen telephone answering services around the country and relationships with more than 50 shippers and warehouse companies from Little Rock, Ark., to New York City.The police have found no evidence so far that other businesses involved in his operations were aware they were contributing to an illegal enterprise. Used Telephones to Make DealsMr. Offen rarely would meet anyone himself, choosing instead to put together deals from pay telephones, using as many as 50 aliases and several disguised voices, he said.The case broke in New York on May 11 when Detective Brian Smith began investigating the theft of about $30,000 worth of light bulbs from the General Electric Company in Maspeth, Queens, the lieutenant said.Mr. Offen arranged for a second shipment of light bulbs valued at $100,000. The police set up a trap, but the suspect escaped by not showing up to collect the merchandise. 'Would Burn the Operation'''If he felt something was wrong he would burn the operation,'' Lieutenant Kelly said.After three months of investigations, the police recruited more than a half dozen companies, including truckers and warehouses from Arkansas to New Jersey and convinced Mr. Offen that 250,000 light bulbs were making their way on consignment to him in New York.Over the last week, the businessmen at each company received calls from the suspect. Mr. Offen was arrested Friday after the police traced a telephone call he made to a businessman on 42d Street.Mr. Offen was charged with grand larceny, attempted grand larceny, larceny, attempted grand larceny, criminal impersonation and served with a warrant for interstate flight to said.Lieutenant Kelly said the detectives working on the light bulb case had regarded the arrest with particular relief. With each setback, he said, they had been chided by colleagues working on more formidable cases with the question, ''Watt? Watt? Watt?''http://www.nytimes.com/1988/08/21/n...lb-and-sunglasses-fraud.html?pagewanted=print
