Co-founder of OC Skate/Surfwear Label Convicted of Fraud

A Dana Point man and co-founder of a skateboarding clothing line was convicted today of more than two dozen felonies for bilking more than 12 victims in Ponzi-type fraud schemes involving close-out clothing and a phony apparel company.

Shaine Joseph LaVoie, 46, faces around 24 years in prison when he is sentenced July 17, according to the Orange County District Attorney’s Office.

He was convicted of 12 counts of grand theft, 10 counts of using a false statement in the purchase or sale of a security and single counts of theft from an elder, forgery and writing a non-sufficient funds check.

In 1992, LaVoie co-founded Ezekial, a skateboarding clothing company.

Prosecutors said LaVoie approached friends and acquaintances in 2004 to invest in the purchase of over-produced and out-of-season clothing for re-sale in a deal he claimed would involve a shipment of designer jeans being sold to a Japanese buyer, prosecutors said.

LaVoie told investors the deal would close in three months with up to a 100 percent profit, but later told them the shipment had been delayed due to customs problems, prosecutors said. He then began paying back early investors with money from new investors, then cut off all contact with the 12 victims.

In 2007, LaVoie convinced two more people to invest in a fake clothing line called Agnus, then absconded with the more than $14,000 paid by the victims, prosecutors said.

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City News Service