US EditionEscobar Phone Creator Pleads Guilty to Scamming Buyers, Never Delivered Devices
UNITED STATES, JUL 22 – Olof Gustafsson admitted to defrauding customers with a repackaged $2,000 Samsung Galaxy Fold sold for $399 and other fake products, agreeing to pay $1.3 million in restitution.
- In a Los Angeles federal court, Olof Kyros Gustafsson pleaded guilty to six counts of wire and mail fraud and money laundering.
- Starting in December 2019, Gustafsson licensed Pablo Escobar’s name to market the Escobar Fold 2, a $2,000 Samsung Galaxy Fold repackaged with gold foil.
- He sent crudely assembled samples to tech influencers, United States Department of Justice press materials show, and mailed customers certificates of ownership or promotional items instead of products, while court filings indicate he wired over $307,000 between December 2019 and June 2020.
- A judge has scheduled a sentencing hearing for December 5th, where Gustafsson faces up to 20 years for each fraud count and 10 years for money laundering, and must pay up to $1.3 million in restitution.
- Although most customers lost their money long before they could test products, they’ll hope for refunds under this plea deal, bringing closure to a scam that first made headlines several years ago.
13 Articles
13 Articles
To anyone's surprise, Pablo Escobar's mobile phones were a scam. He has just confirmed a sentence from the U.S. Department of Justice. Olof Kyros Gustafsson, former executive director of Escobar Inc., has pleaded guilty to fraud and money laundering before a federal court in California. He who was CEO of the company has been in custody since March 28, when he was extradited to the United States from Spain, where he was arrested in December 2023.
Escobar Phone creator pleads guilty to scamming buyers, never delivered devices
We heard about the Escobar Fold 1 at the end of 2019. The device came from Escobar Inc., a company founded by Roberto Escobar, the brother of Pablo Escobar. It owns the intellectual property rights related to the deceased crime lord.Read Entire Article
Coverage Details
Bias Distribution
- 50% of the sources are Center
Factuality
To view factuality data please Upgrade to Premium
