CLEVELAND, OH – Normally it might seem difficult to be sure whether two thefts from two separate rental production companies that took place more than a month and a few states apart were definitely perpetrated by the same suspect. But in this case, the scammer used the exact same fake first and last name – “Kelvin” and “Westin” – and a similar fake company name as well – “Lineage Studios,” based in California.
Yes, it appears that “Kelvin Westin” has struck again. Rock the House Group in the Cleveland, OH area appears to be the latest sound rental company to have had thousands of dollars worth of audio gear stolen. The perpetrator is pictured here, captured here on surveillance cameras shortly before an earlier heist.
Here’s some background: On Sept. 8, after being alerted by John Collins at American Audio Visual Services in Augusta, GA that someone calling himself “Kelvin Westin” rented $18,000 worth of gear the week before and promptly disappeared with it into thin air, FOH posted the details of the theft and photos of the suspect and the temporary license plate that he had used.
Collins, who had posted news of his loss on Facebook, found out that others have been victimized earlier this year by a con artist using the same modus operandi. And when Collins glanced at photos of the suspect posted by John Hansen with AV Vegas after gear valued at $30,000 disappeared in late March, he was sure that he was looking at a familiar face – the same “Kelvin Westin” who made off with gear owned by AAVS in Augusta.
After FRONT of HOUSE posted the news about John Collins’ Sept. 1 loss on Sept. 8, we got word of another theft fitting the same pattern that had occurred a few days earlier. On Aug. 27, Kendall Seals from Seals Productions in Chattanooga, TN provided a list of missing gear along with surveillance photos of what appears to be the same suspect loading similar gear into the back of a silver Infinite sedan.
Slightly blurry surveillance images might be less than 100 percent reliable. But on Oct. 14, Steve Tanruther at Rock the House Group in Cleveland contacted AAVS’ Collins to report yet another loss of a similar package of gear using a similar scam, and when FOH reached Rock the House managing partner Ryan Konikoff on Oct. 18, we learned that the suspect is still using the same fake name to rip people off.
“Same name, phone number and same production company name,” Konikoff said. In hindsight, he added, Rock the House should have, but didn’t, “ask for a COI” [certificate of insurance coverage]. But “he signed a contract, provided a credit card, and the credit card went through,” Konikoff added.
Other factors helping the scam succeed included “Kelvin’s” ability to pass himself off as a real audio professional, and wanting the gear delivered to an established performance space. “It was a legitimate venue; there were no red flags” in that respect. “He’s well-spoken,” Konikoff added. “He knew exactly what he wanted in the cable pack.”
Here’s a Facebook screenshot of the gear reported stolen from Rock the House, as posted by Steve Tanruther:
Konikoff noted that, like a lot of other companies right now, Rock the House is getting super-busy and is currently under-staffed. Contract and working credit card number in hand, they had few qualms about meeting this last-minute request for gear, dropping it off at an established space, and returning 24 hours later to pick it up. Konikoff would find out from the venue owner later that, perhaps 23 hours earlier, “Kelvin” and the gear had already vanished. “He was probably out of state before we knew.”
John Collins at AAVS contacted FOH with this latest update after hearing that the same guy who stole from him was renting and stealing gear from others around the country. “This guy is traveling the country with this scam. (Las Vegas, Augusta GA, Chattanooga and now Cleveland) that we know of,” Collins noted, in an email.
With the losses apparently under thresholds that would generate a more vigorous response from police departments and insurance companies, the suspect appears to be able to continue traveling the country and stealing gear without even having to change to a different fake name.
“We are trying to get law enforcement involved, but it is very difficult to get anyone to investigate this guy, and he knows it,” Collins added. “That’s why he is going to continue to get away with this.”
For the original article detailing AAVS’ loss, go to https://fohonline.com/featured/renters-of-pro-av-gear-beware-scammers-are-out-there/
