The following is the personal account of one of the aggrieved parties, David Garner of Cascade Electronics. ================================================================= I personally met John in August or September of 1987 at a meeting of Minneapolis computer users that meets Saturdays for lunch. We did some trading of computer hardware with no cash involved (trading for equal value) until the end of December 1987. At that time John stated that he could get 200 floppy disk drives for $14.00 each. These were used drives that might need repair. I paid for these drives in December of 1987. The drives did not arrive and in March of 1988 a refund was given to me in the form of a credit. From January to the present John has purchased $9640.00 in merchandise from me. I gave P.C. Information Exchange checks for a total of $16,684.40 from January of 1988 to the present. During the first part of April 1988 John stated that he had a request for a quote from the Minneapolis Public Library for 20 AT computers. He said that he had all his money tied up in memory chip purchases and that he wanted to purchase the hardware from me (Cascade Electronics) and pay me when he got paid by the library (NET 30 terms). I supplied the hardware to him between the 18 of April and the 25 of April as I received the hardware from my suppliers. As part of the bid from the library John said that all systems must be installed by May 1 1988. Total value of the hardware for the 20 systems was $48,700.00 In this same time frame John asked if I would want to buy some 41256-12 memory chips. I agreed to purchase 3000 chips at $6.50 each. Delivery was to be made by May. 2 at the latest. Payment was made for the memory in the form of cash and hardware for a total of $19,500.00 John was at the users group meeting on April 30. He said the chips would arrive Monday by Emery. He also said that all 20 systems were delivered and installed at the library. He also took delivery of two XT cases and 2 XT Power Supplies. No payment was made. Total value was $170.00 On Sunday John called Don Seiford and said that he had an offer for his house in Boston and had to fly there Sunday but would return on monday morning. PC Information Exchange was a local and national hub for the FIDONET network. The system went down sometime that Sunday. All 8 lines were busy. PC Information Exchange was a subscription service supplied by John. People were asked to pay $20.00 for the use of his bulletin board. John asked for payment by mailing out statements to the people that used the PC Information system. By May 4 myself, Don Seiford, and Steve Sherwick were starting to worry about John. He never let his system go down and he had not talked to anyone that we know of. On May 5 Don Seiford talked to some people at John's condo unit and they said that they last saw John putting his computer hardware into his truck on Sunday (May 1) On May 5 and 6 The following was determined : HONEYWELL (Where John claimed to work) had no record of him. This was confirmed with personnel and security. The local Airforce base had no record of him. Also no F-14's (which he claimed to fly) are stationed here. The Minneapolis Public Library was contacted and reported, the library system is in the process of purchasing the hardware that was sold to John. PC Information Exchange was asked to quote on the hardware but had not responded. The P.O. for the library system hardware had not been issued as of May 6,1988. On checking John's Condo no one had seen John since Sunday April 30 1988. John also sold 15,000 memory chips to another Minneapolis distributor. They paid 15% down on the order with delivery promised by May 2, 1988. No delivery was made. John also purchased about $5,000.00 of hardware from the same company on Friday April 29 1988. The check was returned marked insufficient funds. Total loss to that company is about $20,000. A report has been made to the Eden Prairie, MN. Police Dept. (Case #88005145) It was also noted that John applied a trailer hitch to his truck April 23. Later investigation confirmed he had acquired a trailer to carry considerable goods. Signed, DAVID GARNER CASCADE ELECTRONICS INC. ROUTE 1 BOX 8 RANDOLPH MN 55065 507-645-7997 If you have information concerning this subject or would care to call in confidence please call the above number collect after 5 P.M. Central Time. Specify to the operator that the subject of the call is the John Aleshe affair. Police report filed on May 9 1988 with the Goodhue County Sheriff ROBERT DISSELL INVESTIGATOR 612-388-8261 ADDITIONAL INFORMATION: The following are serial numbers of some of the stolen hardware: Monitors: Color EGA MODEL PB1431EG (PACKARD BELL) SN 80300770 80300773 80300778 80301094 80300771 80300752 80300789 80301106 80301195 80300758 80300780 80301096 80300767 80301182 MODEL MBM4175 (GOLD STAR) SN 70602265 70602618 70602763 70602635 DISK DRIVE MODEL ST251 (SEAGATE 40 MEG HARD DRIVE) SN 7202 0212 1797 2715 8674 6599 5915 2425 0957 9599 7126 0322 7886 6591 7858 MODEL MF353B (MITSUBISHI 3.5" FLOPPY) SN 8941-8950 AND 7821-7830 MODEL MF504B (MITSUBISHI 5" 1.2 FLOPPY) SN 6021-6030 AND 6081-6090