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11:50 p.m. • 2-10-12

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N.C. Businessman Arrested on Federal Fraud Charges


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David Hagen
David Hagen

A Southern Pines businessman implicated in an investigation by WRAL was arrested by federal agents in New York City last week and will face additional fraud charges.

David Hagen came under scrutiny in 2004 after DirecTV cut its ties with his company, Prime TV,  that operated out of the Gatelinx building in Moore County.

Prime TV sold thousands of satellite receivers to DirecTV customers nationwide, but failed to pay $50 to $150 rebates it promised. Prime employees told WRAL they were told to mislead customers, and Hagen was also sued by dozens of distributors he did not pay.

North Carolina Attorney General Roy Cooper and local federal officials then began to take a closer look at Hagen's activities.

A criminal complaint against Hagen was filed in Charlotte in January, alleging fraud and money laundering in a stock scam. Investigators said he and other promoted a bogus natural healing company, sold stock, ripped off investors and then hid about $10 million overseas.

The complaint had been sealed until Monday, a few days after federal agents arrested Hagen as he arrived at John F. Kennedy International Airport on a flight from the Bahamas, where he had been living.

A WRAL investigation found that he and his wife, Annette, had served federal prison time in the 1990s in Virginia for direct mail and bankruptcy fraud. Over the years, Hagen has moved, shifted money from company to company and used different names, including David Allen and David Defusco.

More than 2,200 complaints about PrimeTV were registered with the Better Business Bureau in three years.

RELATED TOPICS: Moore County

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39 Comments


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"Harrison - how does this factor into your stats? Does this count for 2200 robberies? It is important to make sure that our statistical data is accurate." -yeahright2

Given that you probably weren't going to the leg work in looking up the data to support your position in the other story, I did some research myself. I've answered this question there. You aren't going to be happy with the results, especially about the likelihood of committing white-collar crimes such as these.

iamforjustice said "wbpo...if this man stole money from you please pray and forgive him. No one is perfect. He is a changed man. You will not be able to move on until you learn to forgive. May be he did those things that you say he did but I am sure he is not like that anymore. Forget his past. He is a good man now."

Iamforjustice...why do you seem so convinced he is a changed man...with so many people making the same accusation against him at the current time, he probably is not a changed man. Corporate corruption is a very seroius issue in this country today, and we need to be careful to defend the corrupt simply because we have personal ties to him. If you feel that prayer is appropriate, perhaps you should be praying that he will one day see the light and become a changed man. For now though, he sounds pretty corrupt, and hopefully, justice will prevail.

Sorry Southern Wisdom but Michael Vick is not in prison and has not been convicted.

Well you can always watch free online TV, it made up many many users that broadcast their signal to the web, to include HBO, ESPN, SciFi, Speed, Spike, etc etc, from all over the world

http://www.tvunetworks.com/

thief

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