Man to Pay Fines for Business Scam
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The president of a Valencia postal supplies company was ordered Monday to pay $6,550 in fines and court costs and perform 150 hours of community service for fleecing businesses nationwide in a billing scam.
Daniel Lynch, 45, of Canyon Country, pleaded no contest to three counts of illegally soliciting orders. Authorities say he sent merchandise to companies that never ordered the goods, then billed them for it.
Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Sam Ohta also sentenced Lynch to three years’ probation.
Lynch used his business, International Copy Products Distributors Inc., to get billing information from employees at a Greenwich, Conn., furniture maker, a Chippewa Falls, Wis., shoe manufacturer and a Las Vegas lumber company among others, Deputy City Atty. P. Greg Parham said.
Under the names Postage Meter Distribution Center and Central Mail & Supply, Lynch sent accessories, such as postage meter tapes and cleaning kits, to businesses that had not ordered anything from the company, Parham said.
The investigation began late last year, when a number of the companies complained to investigators that they had been sent unexpected bills for $204 and $214.
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