By Patrick Tepoorten

Felony charges brought against a Harris man, Mark C. Shelander, for deals gone bad on Ebay, accuse him of taking $25,000 in payments for products not delivered. Shelander said the companies could have taken delivery of their purchases at any time, but chose not to.

According to a press release from Newscom, the Chisago County Attorney has charged Shelander, owner of Great Lakes Telephone, with theft by swindle and theft by false representation. The accusation, brought by three companies, says Shelander ìbilkedî $25,000 from the radio communications companies via the internet. An initial court date has been set for July.

The press release states ì the firms say they each paid for Motorola radio repeater stations that Shelander, and his Harris company, advertised for sale on the internet. The stations were never received and Shelander refused to return the payments, which amounted to $24,570.î

Shelander is confident that the charges against him will be dismissed as soon as the case comes before a judge. His motion to that effect claims, among other things, that the three companies are guilty of a breach of contract. ìNone of the winning corporations made payment within the 48-hour specified time frame. This was a breach of the contract and voided said contract.î

Shelander insists that payments for the repeaters did not start to arrive for five days, with the last arriving 25 days after auction. One of the companies is alleged to have asked Shelander to tear up their check when it did arrive, which was done, according to the motion.

In a Monday interview, Shelander suggested that the companies in question found a better deal and decided not to make good on their contract to purchase from him. Furthermore, that the criminal action is a preemptive maneuver designed to focus attention away from their own breach of contract.

ìThis is pure bull,î he said. ìThe equipment has been sitting in my shed for months. They have refused to take delivery.

ìIím a respected businessman and Great Lakes Telephone has been in business since Vietnam and never had any problems before,î he added.

Shelanderís legal representation will argue that, beyond the breach of the three companies, there are ìseveral disputed fees, damages, and loss of business which should be arbitrated,î but that the dispute rightfully belongs in a civil court.

The three communications firms bringing the charges against Shelander are Railcom of Germantown, Tenn., Mobile One Communications of North Port, Fla., and T & W Electronics, Inc., of Grand Rapids, Mich.