Hobby Shop owner rips off LOTR titan Peter Jackson
on January 27th, 2011Peter Jackson, director of the Lord of the Rings films, miniature collector and uber-fan, patronized Detroit suburb’s Michigan Toy Soldier shop for his collecting needs. Store owner Rick Berry paid Jackson back by running up $189,000 in fraudulent charges on Jackson’s American Express credit card.
Berry claimed he needed the money to keep his suffering business afloat after a business partner embezzled money from his shop, leaving him in dire straits.
Berry also claims he didn’t believe Jackson would notice the unauthorized charges, most of which were used to buy more merchandise for Michigan Toy Soldier. He says he intended to pay the money back when his business recovered.
Someone is ethically challenged.
Berry pled guilty to the charges and will be sentenced next week.
Mr Jackson is in hospital undergoing surgery for an ulcer.
Hat tip: Mike Duffey
I’ve got an attic full of LOTR sculptures, booty from a hobby seller who embezzled money from me, too. It’s nice to know I have something else in common with Peter Jackson!
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wow, that is some serious gall there. “I can steal from you because I need it more!”
I can’t believe how many people like this I have run into. They never think they are doing anything wrong. They just borrow without asking, and if you big ol’ meanie just gave them more time, they’d have made it work! They’d pay it back!
My brother and Mike also did business with this store.
But my brother actually makes better miniatures than that dude sells. I’m going to post some of them for sale later this year.
I’m also going to post some of my LOTR sculptures. Try to recoup some of the money I lost, I guess.
“I was just borrowing it!”
“Did you ask the owner?”
“No, but –”
“That’s called stealing, then…”
“But… they’d never notice! It wouldn’t hurt them!”
“Um. You’re under arrest – I think they did notice. And since you didn’t ask, how would you know whether it would hurt them or not? And by the way – you just lost your BEST customer! For ever. You’re doomed.”
What a horse’s ***. There are thousands of American smallbusiness taking right now, and you don’t see them stealing to keep themselves afloat.
If you don’t ask BEFORE you take it, it’s stealing– end of story. I could feel sorry for he guy if he had bought food for his kids or something, but instead he tried to keep a failing business afloat over going another job(s) or changing his business model to adapt to the new economy.
Just cause someone has the money to steal, saying “I meant to give it back, honest” doesn’t make it right.
Also, we’re not talking about Jean Valjean here. If the gent was in fiscal straits as a result of fraudulent business dealings, he can pursue legal remedies to that. Commencing another fraudulent enterprise is not just immoral, it’s impractical.
To some extent, everyone involved in comics and fandom is considered by others to be part of some aberrant outlaw cachet. Whether you think that applies to you or not, following Dylan’s axiom seems like good basic advice: to live outside the law, you must be honest.
The other thing that is so pathetic about this is … well, if Jackson is that much a fan, and a regular customer, why not approach Jackson and ask him to invest in the business (because the ex-partner embezzled money) to keep it afloat? I’d bet Jackson could have been interested in such a proposition.
Instead? Oh, let’s alienate him by stealing from him because he’s so rich.
It’s almost funny how utterly illogical this guy’s whole thought process is.
Problem: Business if failing.
Solution: Steal from wealthiest, most famous customer!
Problem: Partner breaks law, putting business in danger.
Solution: Break law more! That’ll teach them…
Uhmm… yeah. Peter Jackson has an ulcer. I wonder why. Geez.
@ scribbler: Alas, the guy I knew who needed money to keep his business afloat did ask for funds after he had already run up a fat debt to me…and then he ran off with my loans and all the other money.
So…he also robbed his biggest benefactor. I wonder if this sort of thing is contagious.
At least I got some merchandise. Oh, well.
@ Colleen – I realize that many guys who get into such straights are also likely to be unreliable about a loan. It just struck me as stupid that this shop owner didn’t even try. In the meantime, I cringe at the though of the jerk you dealt with running off with your money. I hate hearing about friends who get cheated (and pray that it never happens to me). Dealing with the business of the arts is hard enough without these kind of idiots.
Yeah, I don’t get this thinking. It’s even worse when it’s inside fandom. That really bugs me (obviously, because I blog about it a lot.)
We all have rough patches, but this sort of thing is just low.
In my case, it was someone I had known for a long time. Even though he turned out to be a complete liar and crook, I felt badly for him at first, chalking it up to some sort of desperation or midlife crises. Creeped out by the whole thing. I let it go.
Then I found out he had bounced checks to others for thousands, and had been successfully sued by others. And I knew I’d really been scammed.
Knew the guy for years. Would never have guessed he was such a louse.
It has to be very difficult to trust anyone again when someone you have known for years rips you off.
Well, yeah.
In my case, I had warning signs and ignored them. Discussed it with friends and family. It was only after I finally broke with him that others who had dealt with him came forward to say he was a creep.
Oh, well, better late than never.