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April 14, 2008

Mixitforme defendant has to pay another piper -- AmEx

PROVIDENCE -- The state Supreme Court today rejected the appeal of a former Warwick man who challenged a portion of an American Express credit card bill totaling nearly $1 million.

But Cory Johnson has bigger problems than that.

Johnson, 29, who now lives in Morrisville, Pa., pleaded guilty in January to federal charges, admitting he defrauded a credit card processing firm out of about $2.2 million in customer orders that were never filled by Mixitforme.com, a now-defunct Internet retailer based in Providence. Johnson pleaded guilty to money laundering and conspiracy to commit wire fraud, and he is to be sentenced on the federal charges June 20.

In the meantime, Johnson has lost his appeal in an unrelated state case in which he has been ordered to pay $928,028 to American Express Bank.

“This case stems from defendant’s zealous use of an American Express Business Platinum Card account,” Supreme Court Justice Paul A. Suttell wrote in today’s five-page opinion.

The account was opened in August 2005 in the names of Johnson and Mixitforme.com, which specialized in selling discounted small electronics such as iPods, PlayStations and cell phones.

“According to the account statements, defendant used the credit card to purchase more than supplies and inventory for the business,” Suttell wrote. “Indeed, the statements reflect charges for stays in luxury villas and hotels, shopping sprees in Beverly Hills, California, private yacht charters, exotic car rentals, and international flights.”

Johnson ran Mixitforme.com with David Whitaker, who federal authorities allege was the architect of an Internet scheme that bilked nearly $13 million from people who ordered electronic goods from a company he set up over a toy store he ran in downtown Providence. Whitaker was arrested last month.

-- Journal staff writer Edward Fitzpatrick

Posted by Mike McKinney  at 5:37 PM | Permalink

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Paul | April 14, 2008 5:58 PM link

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