wmlro.com : no patient/doctor privilege if you're talking to Dr Phil
When Matthew and Laura Easton told TV personality Dr Phil, on a programme intended for broadcast, they lost all hope of keeping their previously secret lives of crime away from the police.
The Eastons ran a business selling toys on ebay and similar on-line auction sites. So far, so good. But the purchasing side of their business was different because, well, they didn't actually purchase the goods they sold.
The couple first came to public notice when they told Dr Phil that they made as much as USD3,500 each week selling stolen goods by auction.
Although living in San Diego, California, they travelled to other states, stealing from various chain stores.
It was a copycat case - without the guile: in December 2005, World Money Laundering Report (vol 6 No 10) told of the case of William Swanberg who travelled around the USA swapping the stickers from cheap Lego sets onto expensive Lego sets, then simply taking them out through the checkout, paying the lower price. He, too, sold the toys on the internet.
The Eastons are now serving a 27 month jail sentence for their offences.
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