Worst Theft to Date

I was just doing a little research on Asif Zamir today to check to see where this blog comes up in the Google results and imagine my surprise when I found this:

http://photo.net/bboard/q-and-a-fetch-msg?msg_id=00MpOc

Do a search on the page for "Asif Zamir" (what else?) and you will find a post by a man named James Cripps. This poor guy lost $5000 to Asif Zamir through ebay.

Is there anybody reading this who doesn't believe that Asif Zamir is systematically committing fraud? We are up to almost $10,000 in money owed by Asif.

Here's a quick chronology just to illustrate how absurd the "identity theft" claim is (note how the pattern begins long before Asif Zamir claims to have had his identity stolen):

Spring 2006: Pat pays Asif Zamir $750 for a new camera. Never gets the camera or his money back.

October/November 2006: James Cripps pays Asif Zamir close to $5000 for photographic equipment through an ebay transaction. I need information from James, but from what he wrote, he never saw his goods nor his money ever again.

October/November 2006: Mike pays approximately $1500 to Asif Zamir.

January 2007: I pay Asif Zamir $1190 for a new Nikon D80 with a lens kit. I never see my money again.

January 2007: Asif Zamir gets some bad feedback on ebay claiming he is a liar.

January 2007: Asif Zamir's ebay account is suspended.

January/February 2007: Asif Zamir starts telling people that his identity has been stolen.

Spring 2007: I send Asif Zamir a letter of demand by registered mail. It is returned marked "Refused by addressee".

Spring 2007: A fraud detective from the Peel Police department gets involved. He says that he is in almost daily contact with Asif Zamir, and if everybody is patient, all will be refunded. Some people get refunds, including Mike who is partially refunded.

June 2007: The police detective goes on sick leave until the beginning of August.

Summer 2007: Asif Zamir solicits customers who received goods in previous transactions. Jakub and another man both pay Asif for new Canon lenses.

August 2007: The fraud detective returns to work and reports that Asif Zamir was evicted from his apartment for non-payment and that he can no longer be found.