2 Charged in $3-Million Telemarketing Inquiry; Assets Frozen

In the first case of its kind to be prosecuted in Ventura County, two men were charged with running a Simi Valley-based telemarketing business that allegedly scammed customers out of more than $3 million, authorities said Tuesday.

The case is the first to be prosecuted under a 1996 “aggravated white collar crime” state law that allows authorities to freeze a suspect’s assets before trial, said Deputy Dist. Atty. Mitch Disney. Such action is normally allowed only in civil trials.

Stanton Alan Sklar, 56, of Simi Valley, and Chris Martin Pinnick, 48, of Reseda, were arrested Monday. They have been released on bail and will be arraigned on felony charges in Ventura County Superior Court later this month.

According to authorities, Sklar and Pinnick operated American Supply Systems at a Simi Valley strip mall. The company, which had been in operation since 1995, allegedly used deception and misrepresentation to sell overpriced office supplies--mainly rolls of paper and ink ribbons for credit card machines--to small businesses across the country, Disney said.

Although local authorities had been receiving complaints about the business for two years, only a few of the alleged victims lived in California, so the investigation took months.

“Most of the victims were out of state, so for them to find the needle of the Ventura County district attorney’s office in the haystack of places to complain wasn’t easy,” Disney said.

Sklar is charged with three counts of grand theft, conspiracy to commit fraud, two counts of fraudulent telephone sales and other allegations that could result in five years in prison if he is convicted.

In addition, more than $1 million in assets owned by Sklar and the company were frozen, including Sklar’s home, Disney said.

Pinnick was charged with conspiracy to commit fraud.