Golf scam leads to local arrests

Deirdre Newman

A two-year investigation by the U.S. attorney’s office into a

telemarketing golf fraud scam led to eight arrests Thursday,

including two men from Costa Mesa. An additional Costa Mesa resident

is a fugitive being sought by authorities.

The telemarketing scheme allegedly defrauded golfers out of more

than $5.8 million by charging expensive security deposits to

“test-play” clubs that turned out to be inferior to what was claimed.

No local residents were taken in by the scam, said Sheriff’s Deputy

Shaun Wettgen of the Orange County Sheriff’s Department.

The company reportedly responsible for the scam is Professional

Golf Products of Huntington Beach.

The two suspects from Costa Mesa are Rick Winters, 51, the sales

manager at Icon and Golfer’s Choice; and Marvin Walker, 46, who

worked in the company’s boiler room in Fountain Valley. Tony Perotta,

43, a telemarketer who also worked in Fountain Valley, remains at

large.

The investigation began in the spring of 2000, and investigators

searched the company’s headquarters in June, Wettgen said.

The scam allegedly involved telemarketers calling golfers and

offering them the chance to test state-of-the-art golf clubs with no

risk if the victim agreed to pay a “security deposit” by providing a

credit card number. Once the deposit was received, the victims

reportedly received a set of cheap, low-quality golf clubs worth a

lot less than the deposit. After the victims tried the clubs and

realized their low value, they were usually not able to return the

clubs to the telemarketers for a refund.

During the investigation, it was determined that the vast majority

of victims lived outside of California, Wettgen noted.

Thom Mrozek, public affairs officer for the central district of

the U.S. attorney, said the golf scam is “the flavor of the month” as

far as telemarketing scams are concerned.

“This golf-club scam is noteworthy because these people and others

have been running these type of schemes for several years, and it

does not appear to be abating,” Mrozek said.

* DEIRDRE NEWMAN covers education. She may be reached at (949)

574-4221 or by e-mail at deirdre.newman@latimes.com.