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Debbie Dujanovic and Kelly Just ReportingAn Eyewitness News Investigation uncovers an organized ring of thieves making big money off Utah victims. Debbie Dujanovic exposes a dirty secret in the online auction world.
Ripped off once, victimized twice. The burglars case your neighborhood then steal your stuff. Who do the crooks use to turn a profit on your things? eBay. Tonight, you'll see how the bad guys get their cash, eBay collects a percentage, and you get nothing.
We got a door slammed in our face.
"Where do you get the items you're selling John?"
Driving our neighborhoods, casing our homes with up to 40 burglars in each, they can hit 20 homes a day. They've found a faster, easier way to pull profits from your property. Where does much of it go? eBay.
The Porters got hit, their property auctioned, except detectives found two family treasures inside a Salt Lake apartment.
Meet eBay power seller, John Swanson. Police estimate he makes tens of thousands of dollars a year. He enjoys a nearly perfect approval rating from eBay buyers.
We asked eBay if the company does background checks on sellers. They said no, so we did on Swanson. He was found guilty in 2001 for theft and forgery. Now there are new charges stemming from his eBay business: Money Laundering.
Charging documents say Swanson confessed to selling stolen property on eBay, even pays burglars directly from his PayPal account. Listen in as police plants tell Swanson they've brought him hot power tools to sell.
"We went to Home Depot and there they were, in the back of the truck."
Detectives watch. In under an hour the stolen stuff they provided is posted on eBay. Investigators swoop in and seize 125 items. They say this entire book is filled with things Swanson sold. For each sale eBay collects a percentage.
Stolen World War II era stamps, Winning bid was 99-cents; eBay gets 72-cents. When Swanson sold a saw for $80, eBay made $5.61. Climbing gear went for $69.99, ebay got $5.31. Cops say the ring of thieves contributed to eBay's bottom line.
Sgt. Scott Vanwagoner, Salt Lake County Sheriff's Office: "What it comes down to is profit for eBay, and what it comes down to is profit for criminals on the street."
U of U band member Shawn Solberg got hit by a ring of car burglars, but found his trumpet on eBay. With the auction clock ticking down, Shawn emails his case number plus the sheriff's and his phone numbers to eBay.
eBay responds that Shawn should call police.
Don Campbell, Salt Lake County Sheriff's Office: "We were frustrated."
With just hours left in the auction, cops played phone tag with eBay. They needed the seller's address, instead eBay says, "We'll get back to you in five days." eBay says it had left a voicemail for a different officer sooner than that, but the two sides didn't get together until two days after the auction close date.
A company spokeswoman we talked to says eBay is just a venue to bring millions of buyers and sellers together. While eBay does have a policy against listing stolen items, the spokesperson says eBay does not police each transaction.
We wanted an on-camera interview, but eBay refused. We even flew to company headquarters in California. We waited, off property. The spokeswoman never came out.
That was 10-days ago and we're still waiting for a call. But remember the U of U trumpet player? Here's the rest of the story.
Sheriff's detectives got his trumpet back before it sold, without eBay's help. A closer look at the online photos and they recognized a man's reflection in the trumpet -- a local pawn shop owner. They went there. A parolee is under investigation for pawning the stolen trumpet.
You can contact Reporter, Debbie Dujanovic at ddujanovic@ksl.com or producer, Kelly Just at kjust@ksl.com.
