Man Charged With Fraud on EBay

A Los Angeles man was charged Wednesday with defrauding EBay buyers on six continents in what prosecutors called one of the largest Internet auction scams uncovered.

Chris Chong Kim, 27, was charged with four counts of grand theft and 26 counts of holding a mock auction for allegedly failing to deliver the high-end computers and computer parts he sold on his EBay business site, Calvin Auctions, according to Los Angeles County prosecutors.

Kim was arrested Tuesday and was jailed in lieu of $400,000 bail. If convicted on all counts, he could face up to 24 years in prison.

The criminal complaint against Kim listed losses of $453,000 to 26 U.S. customers, EBay Inc. and Bank of America Corp.

The Los Angeles County district attorney’s office said Kim had been selling computers, laptops and other equipment for two years through Calvin Auctions. In April, he allegedly stopped shipping products but continued to sell on EBay until his business was shut down two months later.

The online auction house received more than 170 complaints from customers around the world, prosecutors said.