Florida Computer Store Operator Is Sentenced To 15 Months For Wire Fraud

CHARLOTTE, N.C. – Alan F. Luboff, 51, of Parkland, Florida, was sentenced yesterday by U.S. District Judge Max O. Cogburn, Jr. to 15 months in prison and three years of supervised release on wire fraud charges, announced Andrew Murray, U.S. Attorney for the Western District of North Carolina.  Judge Cogburn also ordered the defendant to pay restitution in the amount of $119,900. 

John A. Strong, Special Agent in Charge of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) in North Carolina joins U.S. Attorney Murray in making today’s announcement.

According to documents filed with the Court and yesterday’s sentencing hearing, Luboff was the operator of “Triple Play Sales,” a computer store located in Coral Springs, Florida.  As part of his operation of Triple Play Sales, Luboff purchased and sold computer products and earned commission on those transactions.  Court records show that on January 25, 2018, Luboff emailed a past business associate, identified in court documents as “S.F.,” proposing a transaction to help Luboff finance 600 central processing units (CPUs).  S.F. is a business owner and resident of Cornelius, N.C. 

According to court records, Luboff falsely represented to the victim that if S.F. gave him $131,400 to help purchase the CPUs, Luboff would provide S.F. with a $20,000 profit within one week.  To further induce S.F. to give him the money, Luboff lied to the victim and said that he was going to invest $30,000 of his own money to complete the transaction.  The victim wired $131,400 to Triple Play Sales in accordance with Luboff’s instructions. 

According to court records, contrary to what he told S.F., Luboff did not have a proposed transaction for CPUs lined up, and Luboff had no intention of using S.F.’s money to purchase CPUs. Rather, Luboff spent S.F.’s money on personal expenditures, such as to pay for car insurance and law care expenses, among other things.

When S.F. confronted Luboff about his failure to return S.F.’s principal and income from the transactions, Luboff told the victim a series of lies, including that federal law enforcement agents had frozen the money because a party to the purported transaction had business overseas.

In handing down Luboff’s sentence, Judge Cogburn said that the defendant engaged in “classic lulling,” and that the sentence is important to deter others.  Judge Cogburn also increased the defendant’s sentencing range because the defendant caused falsified documents to be submitted to the government during the course of the investigation.

Luboff will be ordered to report to the federal Bureau of Prisons to begin serving his sentence upon designation of a federal facility.  All federal sentences are served without the possibility of parole.   

In making today’s announcement, U.S. Attorney Murray thanks the FBI for investigating the case, and the Cornelius Police Department for their invaluable assistance over the course of the investigation.

Assistant United States Attorney Daniel Ryan, of the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Charlotte, prosecuted the case.