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NEWS: Otakon Asks for Info on Suspected Fraud by Ex-Staffer

Otakon's long gone and a memory now. I fail to see the point in all of this.

I was wondering why my badge had He-Man on it.

For ripping off people by selling fake badges? No sympathy. Actually, I can't see how ANYONE would have sympathy, unless... are you the guy in question? 0_o

Otakorp, the non-profit organization that runs the Otakon convention in Maryland, reports that a former staffer named Geoff Beebe had been selling fraudulent convention memberships at a discount.

While Beebe allegedly claimed to have permission from Otakorp's board of directors to do so, the organization states that he received no such permission and was committing fraud on both Otakorp and his buyers. Otakorp is asking the general public for information on this matter through its webform or other means of contact.

Okay, let me get this straight.

An organization suspects that one of their people who runs things is defrauding them.

So they don't go to the police to report a possible crime, they post his name on the Internet, in public.

At this time the Board of Directors has taken what it considers to be appropriate measures with respect to the situation. However, we wish to investigate the full extent of Geoff's actions. If you have any questions regarding this incident or have information relevant to our ongoing investigation, please contact the Board of Directors...

So what Otakon has done is basically set this guy up for possible vigilantism if someone is so inclined, because they know his name, they know he was in Baltimore on such and such dates, and they can probably social engineer more information out of that.

This news post should be heavily, heavily edited to remove the name, Otakon should redact it from the Internet, and they should go to the cops if they think someone defrauded them and let law enforcement do just that.

This seriously pisses me off - it's called due process of law for a reason.

OK, then let's try it your way: Otakon heard that < insert BellosTheMighty's real name here > tried to seduce a 12-year old girl in public. They are looking for any information on him/her. Please contact Otakon with any information you have.

Also, Otakon should ban him from ever going a Otakon event ever again.

There are the occasional contests and stuff, and the ability to renew your membership--no muss, no fuss--through the online system when registration opens for next year.

But if it's fraud then it's a police matter not a "let's ruin this guy's reputation on the internet." matter. If he has a counter claim, then the lawyers need to slug it out. Both sides lawyers will probably be slugging it out now anyways with this escalation. There are just ways to do this and ways not to do this.

Aresef wrote:

There are the occasional contests and stuff, and the ability to renew your membership--no muss, no fuss--through the online system when registration opens for next year.

So basically, that membership for the current year doesn't mean a lot after the con is over.

Otakon isn't trying to ruin his "internet rep." This is the same as the news reporting someone who participates in defrauding a major company. AnimeNewsNetwork reports new related to the Anime community. He can't sue for defimation since he has already plead guilty to selling the badges. His counter-claim is that Otakon gave him permission, which they did not.

Now they are trying to assess the situation, and figure out the full extent of the problem so that they can prevent this from happening again. He broke the law, he broke the trust of the staff, he broke the trust of his friends. He really did something extremely shameful. Otakon isn't run by paid staffers. Everything every one of those staffers does is 100% volunteer. All of the money gathered by the convention goes into next years convention. His fraudulent activities only hurt the convention by skewing membership numbers, and making it harder for those that might be interested in their membership benefits, regardless of how you and I feel about them, to get them. Not to mention the personal profit he is walking away with at everyones expense.

There will be a legal battle, and in the end he'll lose. However Otakon needs to figure out what the impact of this is, and find ways to prevent problems like this from happening in the future.

Otakon and Otakorp do not have a mandate to investigate criminal fraud. If they suspect fraud, they need to go to the police and have them investigate it. That is what the police are for.

Due process of the law applies to everyone everywhere in the US (unless, apparently, someone declares you an unlawful enemy combatant for reasons that aren't open to public scrutiny), period. It does not mean that Otakon or any other private entity can do whatever they feel like to enforce the law on their own. I doubt anyone will care enough to bring Otakon's own extralegal actions before the police, but honestly, this entire thing is a sad example of how people on the internet think that their brand of justice extends to the organizations they work with or their social circles.

It is the job of the law to oversee any settlements between parties when a law is broken. Fraud is not a civil matter that can just be amicably worked with; I'm not sure where Maryland law stands on this but there has to be some provision that states it needs to be done through the courts.

Long story short:

A) Ohoni, anyone can do whatever they want with this guy's name and information. You're straw-manning the fact that he's now open to public records inquiries. It's not hard to swipe someone's identity or find out information about him. Otakon has left him open to this.

B) See above - due process of the law is everywhere, otherwise we are in anarchy. You are not obeying the law only in the courtrooms - you're supposed to be obeying it everywhere, or you will have the law enforced upon you.

C) See A - despite whatever signed agreements he has adhered to, slander/libel is to be decided in court, by a jury. Not by you, me, or Otakon.