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5-HT2A
Registered: 01/30/10
Posts: 1,794
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17 Charged in 'B-Girls' Alcohol Scam in Florida
#14252492 - 04/07/11 10:52 AM (12 years, 10 months ago) |
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http://www.foxnews.com/us/2011/04/07/17-charged-south-beach-alcohol-scam/?test=latestnews
MIAMI, Fla.-- Seventeen people have been charged in an alleged scheme to defraud out-of-town visitors by using so-called "B-Girls" to lure them to shady South Beach private clubs where they are charged exorbitant prices for liquor, champagne and other alcoholic beverages, federal prosecutors said Wednesday.
The "B-Girls" — short for "Bar Girls" — troll legitimate Miami Beach nightspots for businessmen and tourists who appear wealthy based on such accessories as expensive watches and nice shoes, according to an FBI affidavit. The women, most of them brought into the scheme from Eastern Europe and Russia, then invite the men to private clubs and begin pouring the booze, racking up huge charges on the victims' credit cards.
Sometimes the men are so drunk they don't realize what is happening and can't remember a thing the next morning, the FBI affidavit says.
"Some victims are so intoxicated by the drinks forced upon them by the B-Girls that they cannot stand and are not competent enough to sign credit card receipts," FBI agent Alexander V. Tiguy said in the affidavit. "Those victims are propped up by the B-Girls long enough to obtain signatures."
The clubs aren't open to the public and exist only for the fraud scheme, according to the FBI. Yet they have the requisite exotic-sounding South Beach names: Caviar Bar, Nowhere Bar, Steel Toast, Tangia Club to name a few.
Prosecutors say at least 88 victims have been identified with total losses in the hundreds of thousands of dollars. Sometimes if they refused to pay, the scam operators would call local police under a Florida law that requires bar and restaurant patrons to pay a disputed bill first and take it up later with the credit card company.
The operators also sometimes took pictures of the victims with bottles of alcohol to use as proof of the purchase, which sometimes ran $6,000 a pop or more, and one victim lost $43,000. The FBI affidavit says the "B-Girls" kept 20 percent of the business they brought in, with the owners getting 10 percent.
All 17 suspects, a mix of club operators and "B-Girls" mostly from Latvia and Estonia, face charges of wire fraud conspiracy, which carries a 20-year maximum prison sentence. The women and some of the operators made initial court appearances Wednesday, despite a delay caused by an unavailable Russian translator.
Court-appointed attorneys for the suspects, who made initial appearances before a judge shackled and wearing bland prison jumpsuits, declined comment. Some were being held without bail and others were trying to come up with bail money. One top manager of the alleged scheme was still at large and believed out of the country, prosecutors said.
U.S. Attorney Wifredo Ferrer said such scams can damage the reputation of South Florida's vital tourist industry.
"This scheme preyed on our tourists and gave our tourism industry a black eye," Ferrer said. "We are pleased to have put this ring out of operation."
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nice1
Not the droid your looking for



Registered: 09/26/09
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Re: 17 Charged in 'B-Girls' Alcohol Scam in Florida [Re: 5-HT2A]
#14252979 - 04/07/11 12:54 PM (12 years, 10 months ago) |
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Thats an old one.
Been happening in Londons sleazy district for as long as I remember - classic scam.
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WunderlandSpice
Legal High-5


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Re: 17 Charged in 'B-Girls' Alcohol Scam in Florida [Re: nice1] 2
#14253146 - 04/07/11 01:26 PM (12 years, 10 months ago) |
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From a marketing and business perspective I am confused on the 'illegal' natural of this operation. Wire Fraud Conspiracy, wth? I can understand why some people are upset, Yes. But if all pricing is readily available via a menu or even "jokingly represented verbally" sorry but you pay the bill and move on. As long as you were treated well, and had a great experience up until you woke up with a receipt stub for $40k on your card you I find it hard to believe you would ever see a penny back. Unfortantly I believe this is a "Fool me once" situation. I am not this kind of business person but I can see it making some people a lot of money. Flame on..
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Adamist
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Re: 17 Charged in 'B-Girls' Alcohol Scam in Florida [Re: 5-HT2A]
#14253268 - 04/07/11 01:49 PM (12 years, 10 months ago) |
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These B-Girls sound terrifying.
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nice1
Not the droid your looking for



Registered: 09/26/09
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Re: 17 Charged in 'B-Girls' Alcohol Scam in Florida [Re: WunderlandSpice]
#14253304 - 04/07/11 01:57 PM (12 years, 10 months ago) |
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Usually the bill is delivered at the end by a big bouncer so u pay or get knocked out. Don't think they have prices on the menus or if they do then theres gonna be hidden charges.
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wildernessjunkie
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Re: 17 Charged in 'B-Girls' Alcohol Scam in Florida [Re: WunderlandSpice]
#14253311 - 04/07/11 01:58 PM (12 years, 10 months ago) |
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Quote:
WunderlandSpice said: From a marketing and business perspective I am confused on the 'illegal' natural of this operation. Wire Fraud Conspiracy, wth? I can understand why some people are upset, Yes. But if all pricing is readily available via a menu or even "jokingly represented verbally" sorry but you pay the bill and move on. As long as you were treated well, and had a great experience up until you woke up with a receipt stub for $40k on your card you I find it hard to believe you would ever see a penny back. Unfortantly I believe this is a "Fool me once" situation. I am not this kind of business person but I can see it making some people a lot of money. Flame on..
I agree. I dont see how this is illegal or fraud. Looks like some rich guys got hustled by some hot foriegn chicks. Thinking they would get laid they got taken instead. Not illegal in my eyes, only stupid.
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Obey
The Analocalypse



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Re: 17 Charged in 'B-Girls' Alcohol Scam in Florida [Re: wildernessjunkie]
#14253349 - 04/07/11 02:08 PM (12 years, 10 months ago) |
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women seduce rich men into spending money. Somehow this doesn't sound like anything new.
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WunderlandSpice
Legal High-5


Registered: 06/01/10
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Re: 17 Charged in 'B-Girls' Alcohol Scam in Florida [Re: Obey]
#14253393 - 04/07/11 02:17 PM (12 years, 10 months ago) |
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Oh yeah, I went to Estonia last year and the girls were all 10's in my book.
-------------------- $15+ in Freebies with every single order! Plus use the coupon code, 'Mush10' for 10% off your entire order at our Wunderland Herbal Store We sell herbal blends infused with JWH-250 and JWH-122.
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plustax
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Re: 17 Charged in 'B-Girls' Alcohol Scam in Florida [Re: WunderlandSpice] 1
#14253822 - 04/07/11 03:27 PM (12 years, 10 months ago) |
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so you guys are cool with chicks drugging dudes with stuff like scopalamine and then having them withdraw money from an ATM? Same thing here.
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Ojom
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Re: 17 Charged in 'B-Girls' Alcohol Scam in Florida [Re: plustax] 1
#14253847 - 04/07/11 03:30 PM (12 years, 10 months ago) |
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I am having a hard time comprehending how this is illegal as well. Sounds like more bullshit out of Florida to me.
Quote:
plustax said: so you guys are cool with chicks drugging dudes with stuff like scopalamine and then having them withdraw money from an ATM? Same thing here.
There was no mention of any such behavior in this article.
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tito123


Registered: 01/23/10
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Re: 17 Charged in 'B-Girls' Alcohol Scam in Florida [Re: Ojom]
#14253959 - 04/07/11 03:48 PM (12 years, 10 months ago) |
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i should open up a diner for a month and sell food for hundreds of thousands of dollars and not list the price on the menu. if they dont want to pay it, they get sued
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muistrue
Inspired by the mystery


Registered: 03/20/05
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Re: 17 Charged in 'B-Girls' Alcohol Scam in Florida [Re: 5-HT2A]
#14253979 - 04/07/11 03:51 PM (12 years, 10 months ago) |
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So what exactly was illegal about this operation? Sure it's shady as hell but illegal?
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Mr. Anderson
πριν από το χρόνο κάποιου


Registered: 09/05/10
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Re: 17 Charged in 'B-Girls' Alcohol Scam in Florida [Re: muistrue]
#14254055 - 04/07/11 04:09 PM (12 years, 10 months ago) |
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True that, shady but illegal?
This countries getting ridiculous.
It's their own dumbass faults for getting drunk and not asking how much their tab was trying to impressthe b-girls.
I thought the whole point was to have hot bartenders to attract business?
Soon to come, only obese bar maids in the US
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muistrue
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Re: 17 Charged in 'B-Girls' Alcohol Scam in Florida [Re: Mr. Anderson]
#14254078 - 04/07/11 04:13 PM (12 years, 10 months ago) |
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The rich dudes are just pissed that they're the ones who got taken advantage of, they're used to it being the other way around.
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Mr. Anderson
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Re: 17 Charged in 'B-Girls' Alcohol Scam in Florida [Re: muistrue]
#14254089 - 04/07/11 04:15 PM (12 years, 10 months ago) |
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Right and they have enough money and influence to have something actually done about it. It's bs, like the rich can just write or manipulate laws.
I mean yea the girls and their whole business was shady but they were good at it. Still no different then any other bar, buy alcohol and sell it at a greater price, just a lot more and there's plenty of establishments that are VIP only not open to the public.
What's next arresting car salesmen for making an overhead,"you ripped me off man"
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Disclaimer: All posts are completely fictional and or for educational purposes only.
Edited by Mr. Anderson (04/07/11 04:22 PM)
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tibberous
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Re: 17 Charged in 'B-Girls' Alcohol Scam in Florida [Re: Mr. Anderson]
#14254732 - 04/07/11 06:12 PM (12 years, 10 months ago) |
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Sorry guys, but I see why this should be illegal.
Not talking about 10-15 drinks, there talking about $6,000 drinks -- the fact they can even get a merchant processor is a little surprising.
Great to be all anti-government, but I'm not sure why your supporting an obvious scam that prayed on drunk people. If you get a girl pass-out drunk and fuck her, that's rape. Get a guy wasted and max out his credit, that's fraud/theft.
Worst part - these kind of places make you scared to go anywhere. They even have them on the strip in Vegas, and the huge profit margins let them muscle out decent places. Imagine if you went to a restaurant and ordered a couple drinks, and your bill was $3,500 -- no one would have a problem paying that?
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Capers
Man About Town


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Re: 17 Charged in 'B-Girls' Alcohol Scam in Florida [Re: tibberous]
#14255731 - 04/07/11 09:18 PM (12 years, 10 months ago) |
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Why do these rich people have no shame in being hustled like that? They should just pay the bill and hope no one else finds out.
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2jew4u
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Re: 17 Charged in 'B-Girls' Alcohol Scam in Florida [Re: Capers]
#14255864 - 04/07/11 09:40 PM (12 years, 10 months ago) |
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What the fuck is the difference, between A 300 dollar bottle of vodka at a club, A $500 drink at a strip club? Are they just pissed that the didnt get to fuck or what.... Wonder if can get the fed involved in charging 7 dollars a shot at the bar. Its all relative really, 600 dollars at a strip club, for the blue collar guy, 6,000 for the guy that makes 300k a year. Same diff
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Ojom
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Re: 17 Charged in 'B-Girls' Alcohol Scam in Florida [Re: tibberous]
#14256472 - 04/07/11 11:54 PM (12 years, 10 months ago) |
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Quote:
tibberous said: Sorry guys, but I see why this should be illegal.
Not talking about 10-15 drinks, there talking about $6,000 drinks -- the fact they can even get a merchant processor is a little surprising.
Great to be all anti-government, but I'm not sure why your supporting an obvious scam that prayed on drunk people. If you get a girl pass-out drunk and fuck her, that's rape. Get a guy wasted and max out his credit, that's fraud/theft.
Worst part - these kind of places make you scared to go anywhere. They even have them on the strip in Vegas, and the huge profit margins let them muscle out decent places. Imagine if you went to a restaurant and ordered a couple drinks, and your bill was $3,500 -- no one would have a problem paying that?
You probably support the drug war too don't you?
Its called personal responsibility. Getting shit-faced drunk in public throws personal responsibility out of the window. If you do it, you deserve what is coming to you. (Sexual violation of an unconscious person not included)
I also disagree with your estimation that having sex with a "pass-out drunk" female is rape, unless the female is actually passed out or conscious and actively refusing.
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tibberous
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Re: 17 Charged in 'B-Girls' Alcohol Scam in Florida [Re: Ojom]
#14257127 - 04/08/11 04:06 AM (12 years, 10 months ago) |
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Point is, being drunk doesn't mean you shouldn't be protected and being 'rich' doesn't mean you deserve to get scammed. Nice shoes and good credit doesn't make you 'rich' anyway -- theres a lot of people with normal jobs that could charge 10-20k.
Besides - at the end of the night, the scammers can say anything - how can someone prove they did or didn't drink, or order or didn't order something.
Protecting people from scammers is in the public interest - that's why its illegal to scam people. If this was a story about Bernie Madoff would you be talking about 'personal responsibility'?
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