Recently in Craigslist Category

From the Boston Herald:

A longtime sports writer for the Union Leader newspaper has been suspended after being arrested earlier today for pimping out a prostitute at a Marriott hotel in Andover.
Kevin Provencher, 50, of Manchester, N.H., was scheduled to be arraigned this afternoon in Lawrence District Court on two counts of deriving support from a prostitute. 

He was picked up in New Hampshire earlier today.

The Union Leader issued a statement: 'Mr. Provencher has been a valued employee for many years. He is innocent until proven guilty. However, given the nature and seriousness of the charges, he is suspended until further notice."

AZUSA -- Attackers beat and robbed man Wednesday after he met a woman at a local motel through a Craigslist advertisement, police said.
The incident occurred about 3 a.m. at a motel in the 400 block of East Arrow Highway, Azusa police said in a written statement.
Officials suspected the woman may have been involved in the robbery, however it was too early in the investigation to know for sure, Azusa police Lt. Paul Dennis said.
"It's possible that this was a set up, although we can't confirm it," he said.
The man, estimated to be in his 50s, met a woman who identified herself as Kathy on Craigslist, and the two agreed to meet in a motel room, police said.
They woman and man drank together and began getting intimate when the woman excused herself to go to a nearby store, Dennis said.
"A few moments later, there's a knock at the door," he said.
When the man answered, two robbers beat him up, took his wallet containing cash and fled, the lieutenant said. He refused hospitalization.
Dennis added that the woman did not return to the motel room. Police could not confirm why the man and women had agreed to meet at the motel.
Authorities described the robbers as a white man in his late 20s with blonde hair and blue eyes and a white man in his early 50s with grey hair.

This from the Boston Globe:

Police searching the Quincy apartment of Philip Markoff found underwear from two of the victims in the Craigslist attacks and a handgun hidden in a hollowed-out copy of the medical textbook Gray's Anatomy of the Human Body, according to a law enforcement official with knowledge of the investigation.

The underpants were described as "mementos" from the crimes, according to another law enforcement official, who also spoke on the condition of anonymity. It was not known from which victims the garments were taken, the officials said. Investigators are testing the gun to determine whether the semi-automatic weapon was used to fatally shoot a 26-year-old masseuse last week at the Boston Marriott Copley Place.

Markoff, 23, is a Boston University medical school student who pleaded not guilty yesterday to charges stemming from attacks against two women in posh Back Bay hotels. Police in Warwick, R.I., say a prostitute who also advertised on Craigslist was attacked in a hotel there last Thursday, but Markoff has not been charged with that crime. No new victims have come forward so far, one of the law enforcement officials said today.

Authorities have said that his alleged crimes may have been motivated by a gambling problem and a desire to dominate his victims.

Saw this ad on Craigslist. Here's the pitch:

Talented freelance online bloggers and vloggers wanted to intern for for start-up weekly blog/vlog reaching thousands via email in the Foothill Communities (from the 57 fwy to the 15 fwy along the 210 corridor...

Pardeep Singh has left quite a trail of financial destruction in his wake.

You might remember Singh as the Covina man who rented out his home to several unsuspecting tenants via Craigslist.

Turns out he may have taken a friend for at least $100,000 as well. The friend, Kenneth Yandoli, of Glendale, said he gave Singh $100,000 in return for a deed of trust in the home at 5541 Calera Avenue in Covina.

Then we stumbled upon this great discussion of Singh and his LLC on a couple of websites including the TUG BBS, a group for Timeshare users.

Perhaps the best tidbits of information came from Singh's user profile on eBay. As well as this auction for a nonexistent property near the Las Vegas strip.

We're going to stay on top of this for the rest of the week. I'm still waiting for calls back from eBay, the Las Vegas PD, IC3 and the FBI, no doubt Singh is on all their radar screens.

 

This is a photo of Pardeep Singh wanted for his role in a Craigslist scam gone bad.

Amanda Baumfeld has been all over this story and plans on filing an update this afternoon. In the meantime here's a snippet of what she wrote for Friday's newspaper:

This is a very well put together scam," said Capt. Joe Hartshorne of the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department. "The families are truly victims. They could not have seen this coming."

A hold has been placed on Singh's passport and a silver Volvo left in the driveway has been impounded, officials said.

Renters began learning of the apparent fraud Monday night.

 

 

 

The Los Angeles Times didn't touch the story in its print version, but did post a blog entry at LA Now.  The story is accurate, but we're wondering where they got the picture of a "For Rent " sign.

None of the photographers or reporters who actually visited the scene at 5441 Calera Avenue saw a sign quite like that.

Reporter Amanda Baumfeld will report tomorrow on a Craigslist scam in Covina that has some potential renters hopping mad.

Here's the top of her story as it stands:

COVINA - Stevan Ortiz and his girlfriend planned to move into a three-bedroom home on Calera Avenue Thursday.

The couple - expecting their second child in June - gave notice at their apartment in Baldwin Park, bought a washer and dryer and even made plans to pick up a dog.

But Tuesday afternoon, Ortiz, 22, discovered he was among a group of people who have been victims of a real estate fraud.

"We made so many plans," said Ortiz, who tried contacting the owner all weekend. "I had this in the back of my mind when I couldn't get a hold of him."

At least 12 families have filed complaints connected to the property located at 5441 N. Calera Avenue, said Detective Ted Williams, of the Los Angeles County Sheriffs Department. Each family gave first and last month rent, totaling $2,400, officials said.