Michigan
There is a local crook which claims to be the president of a local city's chamber of commerce. When you call the state chamber office they will verify that there is no chamber in this city. He lists his address with a "Suite" number, but it turns out to be the address of a UPS Store box. He convinces several hundred local businesses to pay him to be a member of the chamber and have their ad listed on his web site which gets NO traffic. He writes checks that bounce or charge back. I recently did work for him and he sent me a check for $50 that bounced. He is on probation for writing false checks and I know the name and location of his probation officer. He is also on probation for larceny and one other charge. He gets people to do web site work for him and never pays. This guy I met did over 200 hours of work worth $5,000 and never received a dime.
a) What should I do about this guy? I only lost $50, but that is NOT my concern, I want to stop him from scamming hundreds of other people around here. Detectives at the local station already know about him but they don't seem to do a whole lot.
b) Can I make a web site and post info. about how he scammed people I know. And post copies of his criminal record showing his charges? His site has HORRIBLE search engine listing and I know I can get a site with higher listing for his search terms. Therefore, his potential customers would run into my web site first and I'm positive a lot of local people could find it. What are the laws and limits here... he will probably threaten to sue me for defamation but can he? What are the limits as to what I can write about him on this site?
There is a local crook which claims to be the president of a local city's chamber of commerce. When you call the state chamber office they will verify that there is no chamber in this city. He lists his address with a "Suite" number, but it turns out to be the address of a UPS Store box. He convinces several hundred local businesses to pay him to be a member of the chamber and have their ad listed on his web site which gets NO traffic. He writes checks that bounce or charge back. I recently did work for him and he sent me a check for $50 that bounced. He is on probation for writing false checks and I know the name and location of his probation officer. He is also on probation for larceny and one other charge. He gets people to do web site work for him and never pays. This guy I met did over 200 hours of work worth $5,000 and never received a dime.
a) What should I do about this guy? I only lost $50, but that is NOT my concern, I want to stop him from scamming hundreds of other people around here. Detectives at the local station already know about him but they don't seem to do a whole lot.
b) Can I make a web site and post info. about how he scammed people I know. And post copies of his criminal record showing his charges? His site has HORRIBLE search engine listing and I know I can get a site with higher listing for his search terms. Therefore, his potential customers would run into my web site first and I'm positive a lot of local people could find it. What are the laws and limits here... he will probably threaten to sue me for defamation but can he? What are the limits as to what I can write about him on this site?