Software Exec Arrested For $30,000 Lego Theft

[Andy Chalk]

Software Exec Arrested For $30,000 Lego Theft

A vice president with a California software company has been busted running an elaborate Lego eBay scam.

47-year-old Thomas Langenbach is Vice President of the Integration and Certification Center at Palo Alto-based SAP Labs LLC. He's been with the company since 1988, according to his LinkedIn profile [http://www.linkedin.com/profile/view?id=30163496&authType=NAME_SEARCH&authToken=3bWp&locale=en_US&srchid=639f4be5-30c6-456c-a35b-74a6dd9325b5-0&srchindex=1&srchtotal=3&goback=.fps_PBCK_*1_Thomas_Langenbach_*1_*1_*1_*1_*2_*1_Y_*1_*1_*1_false_1_R_*1_*51_*1_*51_true_*2_*2_*2_*2_*2_*2_*2_*2_*2_*2_*2_*2_*2_*2_*2_*2_*2_*2_*2_*2_*2&pvs=ps&trk=pp_profile_name_link], and joined SAP Labs' ICC in 2000. He holds a degree in computer science and business administration from Berufsakademie Mannheim in Germany.

He's also a Lego criminal mastermind.

He's not made of Lego, to be clear. Rather, he was busted putting fake, "sophisticated" bar codes on boxes of Lego sets at various Target stores, which allowed him to purchase them for far less than their real prices, and then turned around and sold them on eBay for a big profit. Among his scores were a $279 Millennium Falcon set that he bought for $49, and an Anakin Skywalker set normally listing for $90 than he got for $35.

And while it may sound a little rinky-dink, it was actually a very lucrative and busy enterprise. A search of his "multimillion dollar San Carlos home" turned up "hundreds and hundreds" of Lego boxes, and police said he's sold roughly 2100 Lego items worth $30,000 through his now-closed "tomsbrickyard [http://myworld.ebay.ca/tomsbrickyard/?_trksid=p4340.l2559]" eBay store.

Police caught on to Langenbach's scheme thanks to Target's in-store security, which apparently pays very close attention to Lego sales as a matter of routine; as police spokeswoman Liz Wylie explained, "Legos are very popular and expensive." He's currently facing four counts of burglary, but could be on the hook for more as police are still trying to separate the stolen Lego items from those he may legitimately own.

Source: NBC Bay Area [http://www.nbcbayarea.com/news/local/VP-of-Palo-Altos-SAP-Arrested-in-Lego-Scam-152320475.html]


Permalink

 

[gigastar]

Funny ways some people try to scam a living.

Then i suppose you need to be some sort of pragmatist to be able to pull this sort of stuff anyway.

 

[RaNDM G]

Langenbach is 47. Isn't that a little old to be playing with toys?

 

[DeepComet5581]

Funny ways some people try to scam a living.

Then i suppose you need to be some sort of pragmatist to be able to pull this sort of stuff anyway.

What's worse is that this guy was a company Executive - A VP even. Yet he still found reason to induce himself into this scam which made him a 'paltry' $30,000.

I can understand some down-and-out office worker or disgruntled Retail Assistant doing this, but not someone who likely gets more than $150,000 a year.

Logic failure.

 

[DigitalSushi]

Langenbach is 47. Isn't that a little old to be playing with toys?

Yeah I agree, 47 years old and still building Lego?, he should be playing with Meccano like a fucking real man, the sissy.

 

[gigastar]

Funny ways some people try to scam a living.

Then i suppose you need to be some sort of pragmatist to be able to pull this sort of stuff anyway.

What's worse is that this guy was a company Executive - A VP even. Yet he still found reason to induce himself into this scam which made him a 'paltry' $30,000.

I can understand some down-and-out office worker or disgruntled Retail Assistant doing this, but not someone who likely gets more than $150,000 a year.

Logic failure.

Sometimes executives do theese things for fun. Steve Jobs famously drove a car without lisence plates.

Though all that was legal becuase there was a one-month period in which a car can be driven on the road before it must be issued lisence plates. It did mean he had to replace his car every month, but he actually said it was a game to him.

 

[Formica Archonis]

Langenbach is 47. Isn't that a little old to be playing with toys?

I don't know - I've seen the Lego Executor and it's bigger than some kids. That thing ain't a toy by a long shot, it's a model. With a bunch of odd bumps.

I can understand some down-and-out office worker or disgruntled Retail Assistant doing this, but not someone who likely gets more than $150,000 a year.

Logic failure.

The wonders of greed, I guess. Treating one's bank account like a high score rather than a resource.

I don't know, if I was his employer I think I'd be checking over what he was in charge of for any odd expenses or missing equipment.

 

[DeepComet5581]

Funny ways some people try to scam a living.

Then i suppose you need to be some sort of pragmatist to be able to pull this sort of stuff anyway.

What's worse is that this guy was a company Executive - A VP even. Yet he still found reason to induce himself into this scam which made him a 'paltry' $30,000.

I can understand some down-and-out office worker or disgruntled Retail Assistant doing this, but not someone who likely gets more than $150,000 a year.

Logic failure.

Sometimes executives do theese things for fun. Steve Jobs famously drove a car without lisence plates.

Though all that was legal becuase there was a one-month period in which a car can be driven on the road before it must be issued lisence plates. It did mean he had to replace his car every month, but he actually said it was a game to him.

One of his reasons was that he didn't want people "Recognising him".

You're driving around in a car with no plates. I think people are gonna know who you are.

He apparently just shrugged this warning off.

Logic failure.

Oh and it was every 6 months (Pedantic).

 

[Sewa_Yunga]

Langenbach is 47. Isn't that a little old to be playing with toys?

It is. But I don't see how this is relevant to the news

I can understand some down-and-out office worker or disgruntled Retail Assistant doing this, but not someone who likely gets more than $150,000 a year.

Maybe he just got a buzz from it, maybe it made him feel superior...

But seriously, buying a $249 set for $49 is rather incredible. Those boxes are freakin huge! If the cashier would have had the slightest clue about Lego, this guy wouldn't have been able to pull that one off.

 

[DeepComet5581]

Langenbach is 47. Isn't that a little old to be playing with toys?

It is. But I don't see how this is relevant to the news

Ican understand some down-and-out office worker or disgruntled Retail Assistant doing this, but not someone who likely gets more than $150,000 a year.

Maybe he just got a buzz from it, maybe it made him feel superior...

But seriously, buying a $249 set for $49 is rather incredible. Those boxes are freakin huge! If the cashier would have had the slightest clue about Lego, this guy wouldn't have been able to pull that one off.

Ever worked in retail? It's pretty boring. I doubt the cashier'd have noticed either way. In this man's position, I'd feel superior from being the freaking Vice President of a company. Selling kids toys for more than you paid for them? It's pathetic and shows that he wasn't really thinking at all.

Ebay is Ebay. He probably could have bought the set at RRP and still found SOMEONE stupid enough to buy it for a profit.

Still a logic failure, in my eyes.

 

[=y]

I like Lego more than your average 20 year old but that's a little silly. I mean you're a software executive, you've already got good money. Right?

*shrugs and goes off to play with Lego spaceships*

 

[RJ 17]

Langenbach is 47. Isn't that a little old to be playing with toys?

Langenbach is 47. Isn't that a little old to be playing with toys?

Yeah I agree, 47 years old and still building Lego?, he should be playing with Meccano like a fucking real man, the sissy.

Take a look at this local news story from the city I live in:

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/47513448/ns/local_news-kansas_city_mo/

Evidently there's plenty enough adults that still love themselves some Legos.

 

[RaNDM G]

Langenbach is 47. Isn't that a little old to be playing with toys?

It is. But I don't see how this is relevant to the news

It has everything to do with the news.

Everything.

 

[Lazy Kitty]

That guy is a genius, they should let him go on account of his creativity.
Seriously, replacing the bar codes? How did he get that brilliant idea?

 

[Stryc9]

Is this a new guy pulling this crap or is it just taking this long to bring the guy they busted a couple years ago to trail. I seem to recall reading something similar to this happening around two or three years ago. The guy in that story used Target stores in his scam too.

 

[go-10]

say what you will the guy tried to be smart about it going through the whole replacing bar codes to get the same items cheaper, he should've done it at a smaller store though. Like Grampa's Brisk House would've never caught on to this

 

[Scarim Coral]

So did no one notice the price drop of the said lego set? I guess I'm missing something if they didn't notice it sooner.

 

[Baldr]

I'm 31 and I build Lego robots. Then again I never pay retail for my bricks or buy sets. So much cheaper to buy it by the brick, especially Technic bricks if you don't mind mismatched colors.

 

[Cyberjester]

Langenbach is 47. Isn't that a little old to be playing with toys?

Yeah I agree, 47 years old and still building Lego?, he should be playing with Meccano like a fucking real man, the sissy.

A real 47 year old would have learned basic engineering from wikibooks/free online university courses and made a _real_ Millennium Falcon.