I wonder if he also misses everything those he entertains steals?

So there was a follow-up email from Hank Lee the other day. Although I wasn't a big fan of that place to begin with, I'm a big believer in second chances so I hope he serves whatever sentence the court imposes on him and does right by whatever the future holds for him. Anyway, this was the follow up email:

Greetings from all of us at Hank Lee's Magic Factory. I try to be a little funny every week. This week, I don't feel funny. I feel sad. I feel embarrassed. I feel, and there is no better way to put this, stupid.

This has been quite the week. While it has been a terrible week for me, I know that it has also been a miserable week for my family, for my friends, for my employees and for you, my customers. In the special message I sent out last week, I apologized from the bottom of my heart to all. It was a totally sincere apology. I cannot say more than that.

What completely surprised me was the number of supportive and positive emails I received from so many of you. In the hundreds, and that's no kidding. Not that I deserved it, but it was a ray of sunshine on an otherwise bleak week.

I wish I had a time machine. And I wish I could turn it back. I truly wish that this had not happened. And, that is the truth. While I continue to get supportive emails from customers and friends, people on the forums are ripping me to shreds. I completely understand. My actions were so very wrong. I have no excuse. I have no rationale. But, I fully plan to atone for my actions and to accept whatever punishment is set forth. In that I am sincere.

That having been said, there is a very large crisis of confidence right now, right here. A few folks suggested that perhaps it is time for me to step down from my position at Hank Lee's Magic Factory. While the idea is painful, I believe it is the correct course of action. So, as of today, I will remove myself from the everyday activities at Hank Lee's Magic Factory. I will be out of the daily loop. I will hand those responsibilities over to my employees, who will do a very good job for you. In addition, my family is coming on board to help. Aron will be answering the phones, processing orders and getting them out the door to you. He is a great person. Bonnie will be paying the bills, handling all charges and keeping the boat afloat. She's a fine wife. I will continue to help on the magic side: writing the ads, doing the weekly email Newsletter, etc. It will be a new, and far better Hank Lee's Magic Factory.

I sincerely hope that this will help to re-build the confidence you have had in Hank Lee's for all these years. Removing myself and turning the operation over to people who are impeccably honest and above reproach is the right thing to do. I hope you agree.

One other comment that I received was that Hank Lee's should do something special for our longtime loyal customers. To say thank you for everything. So, here goes!

WOW!

He's removing himself??? So now are we supposed to just hand over our credit card numbers as usual??? ROFLMAO!!!! Idiot! Just close the shop dude! The business is doomed to fail. Consumers will go elsewhere in mass. No amount of weekly email can rebuild a reputation that is this tarnished. Everyone else at that company is just on a sinking ship. I will be STUNNED if that company survives! I think that is the reality of the situation.

Ted

He is removing himself because he will be removed shortly to another location most likely. I think it is sad how he only continues to talk about himself and does not seem to actually care about the victims. As if we are just supposed to keep buying regardless of the circumstances. But even if he is not convicted I am sure he will still be involved secretly behind the scenes. I am sure he will get off somehow though or get a reduced sentence because of his age or something. I am a believer in 2nd chances but afer you pay for the crime you did, otherwise if you think you can get off free you are more likely to try it again.

It's pretty amazing. If he does not get thrown in jail they should at the very least make him liquidate ALL his assets and pay restitution to the victim. I also find myself wondering if the IRS will come after him. It would be hard for me to believe that he paid taxes on the money he stole. If he didn't they could bust him for tax evasion as well.

I can tell you this, a guy at a local boat manufacturer here stole about the same amount of money from the company (stealing metal, motors, etc and reselling them) last year and he AND his wife BOTH got jail time and CPS took their kids. I think he got about 10 years. I'll be suprised if he gets out of significant jail time.

Ted

I know if any of us stole 500K we wouldn't be walking.This is just what he got caught with.How much did he steal that he didn't get caught.Right now he ows a friend of mine $160.00 that Hank has been giving him a run around and a bunch of double talk for a month now.

I know of 3 of his suppliers that have pulled out and won't do bussiness with Hank Lee Magic anymore.What about credit card companies,surely they won't want to do business of someone that pleaded guilty to 500k of credit card fraud.

I never thought about the IRS charge on 500K...wow.I would say Hank Lee Magic is done for.Its all so stupid...he had a good bussiness going there.All over GREED...sad.

It doesn't suprise me that his suppliers are bailing out on him. I sure wouldn't want my business associated with them. Not to mention the issue of credit accounts. If you were a magic wholesaler would you send stuff to a customer that you KNOW had stolen a half million from his customers? If he's willing to steal from his customers whats to keep him from ripping off his vendors and not paying them? If it were me, no way I would allow this guy to keep an open account with my company.

Pretty soon nothing he lists will be in stock, and you thought it was bad before! That was one of his biggest cons selling stuff he did not even have and telling people it is backordered for months hoping enough time would pass that they forgot or could not file a claim. Makes you wonder how much more stuff and money he owes others. You can bet he will not be coming clean about any he is not caught for.

Yeah seriously man, once a guy heads down the path of stealing from people there is no telling how far it will go. That's why I'm saying he'll never get any of my money again. Burn me once, shame on you. Burn me twice, shame on me as the saying goes. If he really owns up to what he has done he'll plead guilty, close down the shop, serve his jail time, pay restitution to ALL his victims and try to recover his life AFTER he gets out of jail. This whole business of him trying to save face BEFORE he gets it all staightened out is really rubbing me wrong. Seems kind of like the wolf trying to convince the shepherd to let him watch the sheep if you know what I mean.

All that said, I can think of a guy that makes me shake my head even more. How about Jerry Sandusky! Maybe the two of them can meet up in jail and try to convince eachother that what they have done isn't that big of a deal. Sandusky needs to be shot. Maybe Hank Lee's owner isn't THAT bad of a guy......

Ted

This is exactly why I stopped ordering from them! I ordered two things from them (a relatively common utility device and a something else that was sold out everywhere else). I received the utility device a few days later along with a note telling me the other item should arrive in 7 to 12 days. Two and a half weeks passed and nothing. So I emailed asking and was told they were waiting to receive it from the distributor and should get it soon. Another 2 weeks passed so I emailed again and got no response, so I emailed a second time a few days later and again, no response. I emailed a final time five days later telling them that since I got no response to my last two emails, it was clear I wasn't going to get the item I ordered and wanted a refund.
I finally got a response saying they would give me a refund and the reason they didn't respond to my previous email was they never heard from the distributor and had nothing to tell me. How's that for customer service? Instead of keeping contact and letting me know he was having trouble with the distributor, they found it better to say nothing to me.
That was the last time I did any business with them, and also made me realize the value of Penguin being upfront of what's in stock and what's out of stock.

Just got an email from Hank that was sent to all his customers. He did admit guilt and pleaded guilty in federal court today. He has taken all precautions to recuse himself from his company and turned everything over to others. His sentencing is next June and he may have enough points to get probation. But the judge could put his fanny in the federal prison system for several years. Hey he learned his lesson.

Turn his company over to others...I hope Hank Lee Magic NEVER gets to sell any magic again and goes out of business.( I can't see anybody stupid enough to give H.L.M. a credit card number again)...HES A THIEF !

Enough points to get probation...whatever "enough points" means.He should be locked away for years...he stole 500K (and who knows how much more he never got caught stealing)

He learned his lesson.All he learmed was how sorry he is for getting caught.

I feel bad for those who depend on him, but I agree that he shouldn't be allowed to be in business at this point. I have to be skeptical at the idea that he's removed himself from the business. Just because others may be answering phones and filling orders, my guess...and it is only a guess....is that Hank is still calling shots. I also would be amazed if his business survives this scandal.

I wouldn't be surprised if he has to serve some time. Not necessarily for the credit card fraud alone, but for lying to investigators over and over again, each lie digging himself a deeper hole. Had he come clean right away, I think probation would have been a given.

Reading other magic forums, I was amazed at how many had the same complaints against him that I had (being charged for an item that wasn't in stock only to be told that it was on backorder, and then having emails ignored). My guess is that his company couldn't change with the times fast enough as brick and mortar companies fell way to a plethora of online magic shops (not to mention ebay). Not sure if this is what led him to first steal, but apparently once he did, he was unable to stop until it was way too late.

Personally I don't care if he serves time or not. Yes, he stole. But the shame he must feel from this has got to be severe, and he has largely become a joke within the industry he once loved. That can't be discounted as a form of punishment. Not when the only (known) victim of his crime is in reality no worse off than before (I'd be curious on the victim's opinion on whether he'd like to see Hank do time or not). And while it hasn't happened yet, I assume it's only a matter of time before HLMF goes under. Jailed or not, Hank's life will never be the same as a result of this, and no doubt he will forced to pay restitution to the one he stole from. My guess is that will easily take the rest of his life.

Hi boys, I'm in Shanghai adopting my second son! He seems to love magic. I gave him a ball vase.

Just checking in on the boards. If he doens't get put in jail I'll be seriously dissapointed in our legal system. I think he will. It was just too much money. It's not like he stole ten bucks or something. A felony is serious stuff. It will have other consequences even if he doesn't go to jail. I'm going to see the national Chinese acrobat show tonight. Guess he won't be doing that since a felony conviction keeps you from traveling abroad. Heck they won't even let you into Canada!! Serves him right.

If any of you guys want to follow the adoption you can check out our blog www.myadoptionwebsite.com/webster.

Ted

Where is there upodates on the case? I doubt Hank will tell what the sentence is although he said someting about it in his last letter which was vague and did not say much. Kinda odd though how he is able to keep staying business. His business should have been shut down until the case was over. He could still be stealing from customers. But I guess the corrupt legal system wants him to keep making money so that they can make money from his fines.