Bad Guy Ken Marino of Phoenix is a thief and scammer, beware!!

[Ken Foose]

About a year ago I was contacted by Ken (George?) Marino about purchasing cyclura from him. The price was not bad, and I sent him a check for the amount agreed upon. I received the iguanas promptly and in great condition.
Fast forward to Fed. 2009. Marino contacted me again and offered to sell me $3,500 worth of Leopard and Sulcatta tortoises. The price was great and I once again sent him a check for the amount. He cashed the check two days later. I've been waiting for my tortoises since then. I have called him and texted him over and over. He usually responded to my calls, and gave me all kinds of excuses. First he's out of town. Then his phone won't work. Then he'll deliver them to a friend of mine in Phoenix, but nothing is ever arranged. Then he has no shipping supplies. Then he's lost my fed ex account #. Then the account # is invalid. Then it's ok again. I am fed up! I told him so. I told him he was out of time and I needed my tortoises or my money returned now. He responded by telling me to grow up. I responded with the promise of turning him into the police, the FBI, and his commanding officers, as it appears that he's in some type of Guard of some sort. This week I will be contacting the authorities, and will also track him down to pin point his address and who he works for and his military employment.

He's told me that the tortoises are in New Mexico. I offered to have some friends of mine in Portal AZ pick them up, but have gotten no response. I've had no response since Friday. I have had hopes that he would eventually send me the animals, since he has replied to most of my attempts to contact him. But it seems that I have been taken. I have spoken to several people over the weekend that have all confirmed that this man is a scam artist. The address I sent the check to turns out to be a mail drop location. I'm not even sure if he lives in Phoenix, but I promise I will find him.

So, my advice is to stay away from this man. He will promise you animals and keep your money and you'll have nothing to show for it. Warn your friends. I will find him. If anyone has any information on Ken Marino I'd be very happy to receive it. You can call me at 702-203-0983 any time. Or you can email me at [email protected]. I'd like to get this guy once and for all and be done with his crap. I have already written off my money, and I plan on spending even more money finding him and taking him down. If you can assist me that would be great. Thanks and take care

 

[rgurley]

Ken "George" Marino is a THIEF !

Hi Ken -

This asshole got me for a lot of money about six or seven years ago. I thought I had told everyone in the world to watch out for him. He offered me a great deal on a group of Pancake Tortoises and after receiving my money, he disappeared. I contacted the FBI, local police, and even an attorney in Phoenix and of course they all told me it wasn't worth their time and energy. (Around $3,000). It was the same scam he used on you. He told me the animals were in New Mexico and he was selling them for a friend who had a private zoo and was deaf (sick, right?) so didn't want to deal with the sales. Like an idiot, I sent the money because it was such a good deal and then began calling him and finally gave up after a year or so. I recall that part of his scam was giving a fake address but one that was close enough where someone at his local post office held the mail for him rather than send the envelope (and money order) back to me.

Ken - The sad part is that several of our "buddies" in Arizona and southern California do business with him throughout the year!

If you want to pursue legal action, I will give you my files on him and the deal he screwed me on, though it might be too late for me to recover anything.

To EVERYONE out there, especially in the southwestern United States - Do not do any business with Ken Marino, George Marino or any of his other aliases. You will lose your money!

And, as a wise friend always says . . . "If the deal sounds too good to be true, IT IS!"

Russ Gurley

 

[Ken Foose]

Well Russ, we need to have these "buddies" help us out now. Email me a list of names and I'll have a chat with them. That is if they wish to stay buddies. The herp world is very small, and the turtle and tortoise part of it is even smaller yet. We have to help each other out. Marino has no clue what he's brought upon himself, but he will find out. We need anyone else ripped off by this guy to come forward so we can get our act together for when I catch him. I WILL CATCH HIM. The IRS will be interested in the unpaid taxes this guy owes for the money he profited from us. So far we're up to about $6,500 in untaxed profit. Just for starters.

 

[lanceheads]

Wow! This must be an un-official board mtg.

I KNOW who you guy's are talking about in AZ, and would be very surprised that they would deal with this guy.
I have heard of this scumbag in the past, and have avoided him.
Go after him him Ken!

Randal Berry

 

[Ken Foose]

Randal, things are very quiet in AZ right now. You'd think that someone would be able to come up with something. There's a large group of tortoise people living down there, and so far not a peep from anyone. In the meantime, I'm getting more info by the hour, and we should have him pegged soon. If anyone out there has any info on Ken Marino at all please add your information to our file. Especially if you've been ripped off by this guy.

 

[irishanaconda]

hey

well i dont know the guy, i bet he prob will be at some shows because arizona doesnt have them too often. http://phxreptileexpo.com/ or another one in tucson around the same time. if u got a picture of him id be more than happy to scout him out for you i should be at one of the shows or maybe both.

 

[Ken Foose]

Thanks very much for the offer. I don't have a photo of him yet, but I will. If I get one before one of the shows I'll forward it to you. Take care

 

[fauxsanity]

whoa...whoa...whoa...back the horses up there Ken, it could be me , but this is starting to sound more like a "witch hunt" to me.

 

[Wolfy-hound]

If he has scammed multiple people out of money, and Ken is trying to locate him to prosecute/turn him in to authorites.. I can't see how that's a witch hunt.
Please explain your reasoning? Thanks.
Any copies of money order receipts, email exchanges and such could also be posted as proof of his wrong-doing.

 

[Lucille]

whoa...whoa...whoa...back the horses up there Ken, it could be me , but this is starting to sound more like a "witch hunt" to me.

The man is out three and a half thousand dollars. To me, that is a huge amount of money. I'd be looking to get my money back too.

I told him he was out of time and I needed my tortoises or my money returned now. He responded by telling me to grow up. I responded with the promise of turning him into the police, the FBI, and his commanding officers, as it appears that he's in some type of Guard of some sort.

If I sent $3,500 to someone and they told me to 'grow up' if I requested my merchandise or a refund, I'd be doing exactly what Ken is doing. More.

I absolutely think we have a right to try to find people who have done us wrong. And if a bunch of folks have been done out of money by one person as some of the folks here claim, it seems logical to gather together to try to plan how to set things right. Notifying the police with the gathered information would definitely be a good first step.

Sharing info and getting help, isn't that one of the purposes of coming here?

 

[Ken Foose]

You can call it a witch hunt or a square dance for all it matters. Here's the facts. The man ripped me off. He has ripped off others, including some very near and dear friends/colleges in this industry. He will do it again. I am going to stop him. He's currently advertising Ivory Sulcattas for $50 each. Tortoise folks know that the going price is over $1,000 each for hatchlings. I am going to gather as much information on him as is possible, and then I'm going to come at him from every direction I can. I plan on overwhelming him with so much grief that he'll be sorry he ever knew my name. I would like my money back, but if I don't get it I will at least have the satisfaction of making sure that Marino pays dearly for what he has done and what he plans to do. As I told Russ on the phone, the man is my new hobby. Hobbies are expensive, but in the end usually very satisfying. Oh, and anyone that would like to help, here's something you can do. His phone # is 602-909-5767. Everyone should give him a call. If everyone calls him, perhaps he will get the message that as a community we are all together and will not tolerate being ripped off. Make him aware that we all watch each others backs and take care of each other. This is not the first time he's done this, and it won't be the last unless we stop him now. If you'd rather not get involved, I do understand. If nothing else I've gotten the message out to beware of this person and to not send him your hard earned money. Now, I need to go and set up my bon fire wood around the stake. Anyone have some gasoline I can borrow? It's pricy stuff.

 

[Seamus Haley]

Probably something you already considered Ken but... if you paid by check, have you looked into getting your bank involved?

I have no idea what you may have for fraud protections associated with the account, but you might be able to recover the money- and even more importantly, it puts the resources of a financial institution on him, looking to collect what they're owed.

If nothing else, they may be able to give you- or more likely any law enforcement agencies that are involved on your behalf- HIS banking information, to better track him down and nail him.

 

[Ken Foose]

Seamus, thanks for the thought, but that won't work. I mailed him the check and he took it to my bank to cash it. I even got a call from my bank in Phoenix asking if it was ok to have him cash it. I told them yes. I do have his drivers license # because of that, but nothing more. I have a friend at the IRS who's checking on some things now, so soon we should have a lot more info about him. It might take awhile, but by the time I'm done I'll know what brand of toothpaste he uses.

 

[fauxsanity]

If he has scammed multiple people out of money, and Ken is trying to locate him to prosecute/turn him in to authorites.. I can't see how that's a witch hunt.
Please explain your reasoning? Thanks.
Any copies of money order receipts, email exchanges and such could also be posted as proof of his wrong-doing.

Unless Shane is a licensed investigator ..it seems to he'd be borderline stalking someone. Ken stated "his side" and warned people.. the rest should be done the rightful way of handling things, civil and lawful.

That being said..I'd also like to add, Ken has every right to be pissed. BUT if Randel knew about this guy's character and Ken had "friends and colleges" scammed by him ALREADY..why would you still do business with him?

 

[Lucille]

lawful.

Are you saying that having a conversation with someone, and gathering together information, is unlawful?

I've not heard that. If someone owed me $3,500, I'd be finding out all I could prior to initiating a police report, and would consider that not only lawful, but common sense.

 

[fauxsanity]

let me nip this in the bud...Randal..(sorry for misspelling before Randal) knew about this guy's rep beforehand so apparently there's threads started about him already out there...Ken has friends and colleges that had this happen to, from the same guy..he should have known or could have if he did some research.

IF Ken knew of this guys rep before hand and decided to take a risk..if he knew and bought because the profit margin would be greater for his business, he lost.

expensive lesson?..for sure..timely?..you bet..cost of doing business?..sometimes..but you have to use legal channels to recoup you losses.

Ken the best thing to do at this point is to say, "I could have used to BOI and save alot of headache, so I'm posting for others, my lesson is learned"..and keep everyone informed on the outcome.*

 

[Ken Foose]

I would not have done business with him if I'd known all the details I know now. Most of us in my business have dozens of transactions a week, and sometimes in a day. And sometimes we get burned. I'm sure if I'd thought to ask Randal about this guy he would have told me to stay away from him. Same with Russ. I consider both of them to be close friends and business colleges. But no one knew I was dealing with Ken Marino, how could they? Russ got took by him years ago, and Randal just considered him a guy not to do business with. This is all my fault for not being as careful as I should have been. I'm paying the price. But I will get satisfaction, one way or the other.

 

[ophidile]

Unless Shane is a licensed investigator ..it seems to he'd be borderline stalking someone. Ken stated "his side" and warned people.. the rest should be done the rightful way of handling things, civil and lawful.

That being said..I'd also like to add, Ken has every right to be pissed. BUT if Randel knew about this guy's character and Ken had "friends and colleges" scammed by him ALREADY..why would you still do business with him?

I hate it when people throw around terms without having a clue what they mean.

"Stalking" someone is when the person has done nothing wrong. I don't think anyone will disagree that stealing someone's money is wrong.

What would be UNLAWFUL is if Ken physically attacked Ken Marino or trespassed on his property or stole stuff from him. (yes I realize it would in a sense be merely "getting what he is owed" but it's still illegal to collect like that). Harassing him via repeatedly finding him and demanding his money back, including going to public places, as well as running around telling people what Marino has done, is perfectly legal, and IMHO quite acceptable. As far as I know, private investigators have no more authority than any other citizen - they just likely have more experience and connections, and are getting paid to do what they're doing.

You don't just have to sit on your ass and hope some authority will ride to your rescue all the time. You're allowed to be proactive in certain ways. Credit collection agencies do this sort of thing all the time, and it is legal (unless they're going after the wrong person).

 

[DayGeckoFreak]

Hey Ken,
I live near the Phoenix area and will definately be avoiding this guy. If I come across him at any of the reptile shows IrishAnanaconda wrote of then I'll be sure to let you know.
Good Luck, and May the Force be With You!

 

[fauxsanity]

Are you saying that having a conversation with someone, and gathering together information, is unlawful?

I've not heard that. If someone owed me $3,500, I'd be finding out all I could prior to initiating a police report, and would consider that not only lawful, but common sense.

no..I meant he has a cashed check and no goods..Bad for business..but sending someone somebody's picture for the intent purpose of "scoping" them out.. it's Bad for business also..not the way things are done.