Police: Duluth Man 'Middle Man' in Internet Scam

Duluth Police are warning online shoppers to be careful following an investigation of an Internet computer scam involving car sales. A Duluth man, described by Det. Fran Foster as the “middle man” in the complex scheme, has been arrested and charged with three counts of theft by deception.

John Kennedy Muntean, 48, was picked up by Gwinnett County Sheriff’s Department deputies at his Duluth home Jan. 22 and booked into the Gwinnett County Jail at 10:15 p.m. He was released on bond at 9:57 p.m. Jan. 23.

The Duluth Police Department began its investigation after it was contacted by Gary Christy, a victim from Westerville, OH, by telephone in late December concerning a suspected fraud involving his attempted purchase of a vehicle on a website he believed to be eBay.

The investigation subsequently revealed several victims from different cities in the United States. The loss exceeds $110,000,” Det. Foster said. Different vehicles were used in the fraudulent scheme.

“Muntean is the middle man moving the money, not the person running the Internet portion of the scam. That person appears to be in Hungary, Germany. Muntean was moving the money through American bank accounts, then sending a cut of the cash via Western Union to Germany,” she said.

Muntean was arrested after returning to Duluth from turning himself in to police in Pine View, NC, and posting bond on an outstanding warrant there. He was reportedly planning to turn himself in to authorities in Duluth also.

Don Samuel, attorney for Muntean, said that his client had been “manipulated by other people” into becoming involved in the operation. Muntean is cooperating with the investigation by providing information and financial records, Samuel said.