Friday hearing aims to stop out-of-state computer salesmen

Attorney General Jay Nixon obtained the order against Jeffrey Kodba, who does business as JSK Computers, of Erie., Pa., and Orlando Bevilacqua and his business, The Bevilacqua Group, of Pittsburg, Kan., temporarily barring them from doing business with Missourians. Nixon plans to seek a preliminary injunction against the pair at a hearing on Friday.

According to a news release, Bevilacqua and his business acted as sales representatives for Kodba and JSK in soliciting Springfield-based Altec Solutions Group Inc. to purchase 1,000 computer monitors of a specific size, condition and color for a total of $50,000. The defendants allegedly made representations that the merchandise was in good working order and packed individually in manufacturers’ boxes. Altec agreed to the purchase, wiring $50,000 to JSK Computers on Sept. 19, 2007.

Following two weeks of delays, Altec received the shipment Oct. 4 and discovered items the company hadn’t ordered. Some of the merchandise was damaged and labeled as unrepairable, and broken glass panels in the shipment had caused leaking mercury at toxic levels, the release said. Altec has determined that disposing of the hazardous material will cost $16,000.

When Altec contacted the defendants about the shipment, the company was allegedly told that all sales were final, there would be no refund of the payment and that Altec should file a claim against the freight company.

“My first thought when this occurred was that I didn’t want anybody to know about it, because it was kind of an embarrassing moment,” said Altec owner Michael Van Matre. “I’ve been in business 20 years, and I’m very cautious about what I do.”

The Feb. 8 court order prohibits the defendants from advertising, offering or selling merchandise to any Missouri consumer. Nixon also obtained an order freezing $75,000 of JSK Computers’ bank account for customer restitution and appropriate penalties.

Van Matre said he wants two things to occur at the Feb. 15 hearing.

“One is that I hope to get the funds back that we wired for the purchase of the equipment, the $50,000,” he said. “The second thing is to make sure that (Kodba and Bevilacqua) don’t continue to do this (to others).”

See SBJ’s Feb. 18 issue for more on this story and other legal news.