Election Section

Dealer disappears without delivering $300,000 worth of merchandise 

WHITE LAKE TOWNSHIP, Mich. – Green packing popcorn, large boxes and a note saying “closed for inventory” are nearly all that is left of a ceramic-figurine store whose owner went out at lunchtime one day and never returned. 

Now, Stewart C. Richardson’s wife, the FBI and more than 100 customers who bought items like miniature statues of frolicking mice from him on eBay want to know where he went – and what happened to the money they say he collected for merchandise he never sent. 

A warrant was issued Thursday for Richardson’s arrest, accusing him of wire fraud. An FBI affidavit says Richardson devised a scheme on eBay to defraud customers, and the agency cites about 75 victims with a loss of about $163,000. But officials estimate there are more than 100 people who never got their ceramic figurines, for a loss of about $300,000. 

The alleged fraud stems from a Dec. 28-Jan. 4 auction of figurines from an apparently fictitious estate in Phoenix. Though pictures of the items were posted on the online auction site, customers say they came from catalogs. 

“We were really bidding on air,” said Jan Lebow of Virginia Beach, Va., who bought seven items totaling nearly $4,000. 

Lebow bought Wee Forest Folk figurines, as did many of the auction customers. The figurines – mostly mice in poses of different themes, such as holidays and sports – are a popular collector’s item and can go for hundreds of dollars apiece. Richardson also dealt in the more expensive Hummel figurines and Lladros. 

EBay spokesman Kevin Pursglove said fraud on eBay is rare. “We’ve never had anything like this,” Pursglove said. 

Two customers say they each paid Richardson more than $20,000 for Wee Forest Folk figurines during the auction and also had arranged to meet Richardson in Phoenix on Jan. 18 to pick up the items, according to the FBI. Richardson never showed. 

Customers also say that after the auction ended, Richardson contacted the second-highest bidders on some items and told them the winner hadn’t paid so they could have the items, thus getting twice the money. 

Those bidding on eBay had no reason to be suspicious of Richardson – he had high ratings from past buyers, he had the bricks-and-mortar business, Retired Figurine Exchange, and he had been selling on eBay for several years. 

The feedback ratings let buyers and sellers judge how a person does business on eBay. Marten Halma of Poughquag, N.Y., checked out the ratings before buying six items for nearly $4,000 during the auction. 

“I didn’t really worry about sending him that amount of money because he seemed to have a good reputation,” Halma said. Halma and Lebow were able to recoup much of their money through their credit card companies. 

Richardson disappeared Jan. 17. On Jan. 22, customers began posting warnings about a possible eBay fraud. But there were still some positive messages from customers who bid on different auctions. One note from Jan. 23 read, “Terrific packaging!!, good communication, will buy from again!” 

Friends and associates of Richardson’s wife, Arlene Murray, say she was surprised and embarrassed by her husband’s disappearance. Murray owned a scrapbooking shop two doors down from her husband’s store; it, too, now has a “closed for inventory” sign. 

According to the FBI, Richardson, 60, also took $220,000 from a business account he shared with his wife, and $101,000 from an account she said she didn’t know about. 

Murray did not return calls. Two women inside the locked figurine store said they had no comment. The shop’s phone has been disconnected. White Lake Township is about 35 miles north of Detroit. 

Business owners in the small strip mall where Richardson kept his store say he rarely spoke to his neighbors and always had a dog with him. 

“I don’t even know if he had any kids, where he lived,” said barber shop owner Bobby Leist, who cut Richardson’s hair. “Usually after six years, you get to know them a little bit.” 

Richardson spent several years in a Michigan prison in the 1960s for various offenses, including theft and assault with intent to commit murder. 

Richardson’s former wife said she is not surprised he took off. 

“That’s what he did to me. Left a note on the table. Not only that, he took about $70,000 in antiques,” said Cathy Richardson, who was divorced from Stewart Richardson in 1992.