Online jewelry store owner Roger Kuo had an effective but impracticable business model: He would take customers’ jewelry, and then just not give them anything in return, according to prosecutors.
Kuo, 44, San Francisco, was arrested Friday for the allegedly scamming several customers through websites thefinestwatches.com and thefinestjewelry.com. The store and website have a very mixed reputation on Yelp.com. Some customers offer high praise for the service they have gotten from the store and site, while others complain of terrible service, such as this review:
“do not use this business!!! my wife and i had them sell three watches on consignment. the contract expired and they have not paid us our money, or given our watches back to us. the most despicable thing is that roger kuo, a representative of the finest watches is ignoring us. i am taking legal action. beware!!!” Kuo himself did post a response to this comment from 2010, but after nearly 2 years.
In the two cases this arrest as based on, he supposedly took watches as trade-ins for new ones, but never delivered the products. In a third case. he offered to sell a $35,000 diamond ring on consignment, but didn’t pay the customer when the ring was sold.
Kuo was booked on suspicion of felony grand theft, and held in lieu of $125,000 bail. Anyone with further information or complaints is encouraged to call the District Attorney’s office at 415-551-9558.
Read more:
Mercury News: Man arrested, charged with internet-based luxury watch scam
