Two Pasco Men Accused of Multi-State Fraud

Two local men are accused of being involved in a multi-state scheme in which property obtained through fraud wound up in the county, the Pasco County Sheriff’s Office announced Wednesday.

In the scheme, people were hired over the Internet as “reshippers" to move goods.

Right now, the reshippers are believed to be victims of the scheme, said sheriff’s office spokesman Kevin Doll.

Victims were identified in Maine, Tennessee, California, South Carolina and New York, according to Doll. The victims received property to ship or money with which to move the property. Both the property to ship and the money to purchase property were obtained through fraud, according to Doll.

“We received complaints from law enforcement agencies from those states from people who were either not paid or realized something was wrong with what they were doing,” Doll wrote in an email.

Property moved included iPods, computers, auto parts and live exotic fish. The property wound up in Pasco.

The scheme is under investigation by the sheriff’s office and U.S. Postal Service, according to Doll, and there may be other victims or suspects.

Arrested were Julian Rutland, 29 and Steven Mispilkin, 25. They both live at 11902 Colony Lakes Blvd.

Possible charges include dealing in stolen property, identity theft, communication fraud, scheme to defraud and credit card fraud.