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Two Eugene sneaker resellers are facing charges in an $85 million fraud scheme.
Michael Malekzadeh and Bethany Mockerman appeared in federal court on Aug. 3 on charges of wire and bank fraud. Their online storefront, Zadeh Kicks, was accused of not delivering the product. He proposed to dissolve this year, citing debt.
In one instance, Malekzadeh took 600,000 pre-orders on a new Air Jordan. He got only 6,000 pairs and withheld the money. Brendan Dunn is the host of the Full Size Running, Complex Sneakers podcast. Malekzadeh said he had promised the impossible.
“That number is ridiculous. You can’t reasonably wait to get that big piece of shoes,” Dunn said.
Malekzadeh and Mokerman’s scheme allegedly cost their customers more than $70 million in unfulfilled orders and defrauded financial institutions of more than $15 million. According to Dunne, these types of schemes mostly hurt sellers who want to invest, not ordinary buyers.
As part of an ongoing government criminal investigation, federal agents seized millions of dollars worth of luxury goods. The government also seized nearly $6.4 million from Malekzadeh’s sales of watches and luxury cars.
Malekzadeh and Mokerman are cooperating with the government’s investigation, including the seizure of the assets described above. Both court hearings are pending.
The FBI is seeking affected customers at FBI.gov/ZadehKicks.
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