Coin Update Press Release:

A Minnesota federal grand jury has returned a six-count criminal indictment charging coin dealer Barry Ron Skog with five counts related to the sale of counterfeit coins and one count of mail fraud.

According to the indictment filed April 10 in U.S. District Court, the 67-year-old Skog owned and operated a business called Burnsville Coin Company, through which he devised a scheme, from June 2012 through October 2015, to advertise and sell counterfeit coins by fraudulently representing that the coins were genuine and worth hundreds of dollars.

The indictment describes how through his business Skog posted advertisements in Numismatic News, a nationally circulated hobby publication.  “When potential buyers responded to the advertisements, the defendant often mailed them, via the U.S. Postal Service, lists of additional available coins for purchase,” the indictment states.  It notes that when Skog communicated with victims he would often represent himself as “Ron Peterson” and claim to be an employee of the Burnsville Coin Company, when in fact there were no owners or employees of the company other than Skog.

In addition to operating the Burnsville Coin Company, the indictment also states that Skog sold numismatic coins at a display operated in an antique store in Stillwater, Minnesota.

See the feature Coin Update article below for lists of specific items and further details.

Source: Federal grand jury indicts coin dealer for sale of counterfeit coins, mail fraud | Coin Update