2 Accused of Bilking Golfers for $8 Million

Two Orange County businessmen who already face dozens of charges of telemarketing fraud have been indicted by a federal grand jury on suspicion of running a scheme to bilk golfers out of $8 million.

Mitchell Gold, 44, of San Juan Capistrano and Jonathan Cohen, 29, of Tustin are accused of giving golfers a chance to test-play high-quality clubs for free, then charging them $1,500 each. Though golfers were told they could return the clubs for a full refund, prosecutors said, the suspects allegedly prevented them from recouping their credit card “security deposits.”

Authorities allege that the pair snared hundreds of golfers nationwide by marketing the clubs over the telephone. “These golf clubs were supposed to be state of the art, but when people got them they found the lettering all smeared, or they’d do a drive and the head would fly off the club,” said Assistant U.S. Atty. Ellyn Lindsay.

The indictment, handed down Wednesday in U.S. District Court in Santa Ana, charges the men with 20 counts of mail fraud, wire fraud and telemarketing fraud. According to court documents, golfers who wanted to return their clubs were referred to a customer service department that rarely picked up the phone. In other cases, the telemarketing companies--Platinum Pro Tour and State of the Art Golf--simply refused to take the clubs back, prosecutors allege.

Defense lawyer Thomas Bienert did not return calls for comment.

In September, Gold and Cohen were indicted on separate charges of fraudulently collecting $27 million in donations for several charities. Trial is set for May.