Las Vegas residents sue over alleged ATM scam

John Wilen

Monday, April 26, 1999 | 10:41 a.m.

Seven investors say they were defrauded out of $188,000 by The Profit Center LLC, a company that sells automatic teller machines and associated services throughout the nation as Moneylink International.

The investors made the claim in a suit filed against the company in U.S. District Court last week. The investors include Robert and Mary Jane Pool, the Pool Family Trust, Anna Mendes, Esther Bader, Irene Taub, Randall Vincent and Donald Eisenhower. All live in the Las Vegas area.

The investors sued The Profit Center, Moneylink, and company agents D. Kent Bawden, Keith Jeske, Peter Skarpias and Melody Hahn. The suit says Bawden is president of Moneylink, a Nevada corporation.

The defendants could not be reached for contact.

The suit says each investor met with Moneylink agents "and were induced into signing an agreement for the purchase of the ATM machines."

The agreements also called for Moneylink to service the ATMs, including collecting and distributing cash, and some separate agreements called for Moneylink to find sites for new ATMs, says the suit.

The investors were told the machines would be new "Diebold" brand ATMs, "that it would be easy to find a location to place the ATM machines and that, of course, the ATM machines would provide a substantial profit to the company," alleges the suit.

Based on these representations, the Pools bought four machines and associated services for $60,140, Mendes bought five machines and associated services for $73,300, Bader and Taub bought two machines and services for $27,320, and Vincent and Eisenhower each bought machines and services for $13,660 apiece. The purchases were made from late 1997 through mid-1998.

Of the 13 machines, the whereabouts of only three are know, alleges the suit.

One of the Pool's ATMs was to be placed in a Texas Ramada Inn, states the suit. But the machine was damaged, and the hotel did not allow it to be installed, states the suit. Also, it was a "Triton" brand machine, not a Diebold, alleges the suit. To date, the machine has not been installed at any location, states the suit.

Another Pool ATM was to be installed in a Hawaii "gentleman's club," states the suit. But that club is closed, and the Pools are unable to retrieve their machine, alleges the suit.

A third Pool ATM was installed in a Long Beach, Calif., grocery store. However, it is also a Triton, not a Diebold, states the suit. It has not been advertised, as called for in the Pool's contract, and the Pools have received no money from its operation, alleges the suit.

The Pools have received no information about the location of their fourth machine, alleges the suit. Neither Mendes, Bader, Taub, Vincent or Eisenhower have received any information about their machines, alleges the suit.

"Defendants avoid contact with said plaintiffs or provide very little truthful information regarding plaintiff's investments," states the suit.

The suit accuses the defendants of violations of the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act, violations of federal securities laws, fraud and breach of contract, among other things.