I don't know, but I really don't think your speculation of active, deliberate fraud is accurate Vance. Luciano was actively completing orders until some personal event or events derailed his operation. Earlier, he completed mine and many others without hitch. That's just not the behavior of a deliberate con. At some point, with several orders outstanding, something happened that rendered him unable to deliver (I've heard rumored stories of ill parents and car accidents, but nothing from Luciano himself).
It's not uncommon to find old material on the web. I myself belong to a great many organizations (tongue in cheek: *almost* entirely legitimate) with a web presence. One of them had a series of pages maintained by a regional parent organization over which we had no control. Those pages are still there and are years out of date. That has resulted in several want-to-be members submitting dues to an address that is not active. Those people subsequently look around long enough to find us and complain. Those in my state organization have been railing for years to get the outdated pages removed to no reply. The fact of an outdated web presence does not mean my state organization is actively engaged in fraud! I think Luciano's case, he being rural with very limited access to the web and communication technology in general, is at least similar. Regarding the lure of cheap product, Luciano's product isn't necessarily cheap. When active, he was delivering workable product of excellent timbers, but upon scrutiny, his execution favors coarse. His prices were quite fair. The bottom line is that Luciano has *not* made good on several outstanding orders, whether he simply fell onto hard times or suddenly decided to cease luthiery in favor of fraud (and I hope it's clear that I suspect the former, more benign case). With such a backlog, anybody to commission from Luciano before making good on his outstanding orders should be aware of the risk. Eugene > -----Original Message----- > From: [email protected] [mailto:[email protected]] On > Behalf Of vance wood > Sent: Monday, December 14, 2009 8:43 PM > To: Lute List > > Subject: [LUTE] Re: Luciano Faria > > I hate to be the constant cynic but it is an easy thing for someone to be > positive, friendly and even accommodating when they have their hand out > waiting for the green to flow. However; when this positive, friendly and > even accommodating behavior is followed with dodging, equivocating, and a > refusal to communicate then one must conclude that they have been taken by > a > fraud. You might try Interpol but I think they would probably laugh at > you > behind your back. If one or more of these unrequited purchasers had some > discretionary funds it might be fun to locate someone in Brazil capable of > finding Mr. Faria and retrieving some or all of your investments. If Mr. > Faria still has his web site up and is accepting deposits from it he is > guilty of Internet fraud as well. He could be held culpable for this > charge > as well. One way to interest law enforcement is to provide proof of this > kind of activity. > ----- Original Message ----- > From: "Robison, John" <[email protected]> > To: <[email protected]> > Sent: Monday, December 14, 2009 6:30 PM > Subject: [LUTE] Luciano Faria > > > > Hi everyone, > > For some time now, I have been reading a lot of the messages and > > comments made about Luciano Faria. My experience began positively > when > > I submitted a double order for an archlute and a theorbo in January > > 2007; before submitting the orders, I checked with a few people that > > had purchased instruments from him, and they had good things to say. > I > > know that he had that car accident early in 2008, I think, and I have > > read something about his parents, but still, this is ridiculous!!! > The > > last time that he answered one of my e-mails was in August 2008, and > at > > that time he said that he was getting ready to begin work on both > > instruments. Since then all of my e-mails have gone unanswered, and I > > have no other way of contacting him. His website has not changed > since > > I first looked at it three years ago. My main reason for ordering the > > two instruments through him was that some of his archlute and theorbo > > models will accommodate my slightly small hand/finger size. I simply > > would like to find out definitely if he is building (or going to > build) > > the two instruments, and if he is going to do a decent job on them. > At > > this point, it is very important for me to find out one way or > another, > > since I may have an opportunity to buy an archlute from someone else > > right now if Faria is not going to do his job. He has had my deposits > > on the two instruments for almost three years, and some sort of an > > honest answer from him would be nice. > > John O. Robison > > Univ. of South Florida -- > > > > > > To get on or off this list see list information at > > http://www.cs.dartmouth.edu/~wbc/lute-admin/index.html > > > > __________ Information from ESET NOD32 Antivirus, version of virus > > signature database 4687 (20091214) __________ > > > > The message was checked by ESET NOD32 Antivirus. > > > > http://www.eset.com > > > > > > > > > __________ Information from ESET NOD32 Antivirus, version of virus > signature database 4687 (20091214) __________ > > The message was checked by ESET NOD32 Antivirus. > > http://www.eset.com > >
