by Ben Mezrich
It hadn’t been very hard to Google his way to the Web site for the Tampa, Florida, division of the FBI. He didn’t know for sure if Orb Robinson really resided in Tampa, but he couldn’t think of any better place to start. Certainly, the Belgian police force would not have gotten involved in a case of fraud like this. And he doubted that Interpol even had a Web site. Moon rocks were a uniquely American treasure, so if anyone should be investigating this, it was probably the FBI.
Axel had crafted the e-mail carefully. His only mistake was to show it to his wife before he sent it:
I am a mineral collector who lives in Belgium. Some weeks ago I was contacted via e-mail by a person, Orb Robinson, who claims to have some lunar rocks from NASA for sale. He also advertises on “the Virtual Quarry” of our Web site with the following ad: “Priceless Moon Rocks Now Available!!! …”
I seriously think that this person is trying to swindle unsuspecting people out of a lot of money. I have answered his e-mails indicating that I would be interested in a buy if the price was right. If you want, I can forward these e-mails to you. I realize that this probably is a low-priority event, but nevertheless I would like to report it.
Best Regards, Axel Emmermann
Thinking back to Christel’s highly vocal response to the e-mail when he’d told her about it, Axel finally got a good grip on the weed and heaved his not so insignificant bulk backward; the weed finally came loose, nearly sending him tumbling back into the mud. He caught himself at the last minute and tossed the weed into a garbage pail. Then he rose heavily, his aging knees creaking with the motion. He shook the dirt from his bare legs and pulled off his muddied gloves. Then he headed back into the house.
As he approached the computer in the corner of the living room, he wondered if Christel was right. Not about him being a superhero, or about the danger of getting involved, but her observation that this really wasn’t about right and wrong, that Axel couldn’t let this rest because this, to him, was fun. It was a game, another hobby. Like popinjay, except instead of shooting arrows at a wooden bird affixed to a pole, he was casting e-mails at an invisible foe.
It was true, he wasn’t working at the moment, having taken a short disability leave from the polyethylene plant where he was a quality control supervisor, due to a recurring injury, and rock collecting could only take up so many hours during the day. Archery filled most weekends—but maybe fighting crime would make up the difference.
No doubt he felt a surge of adrenaline as he sat down in front of the computer. He wasn’t really expecting the FBI to answer him so quickly, but he had a feeling he’d be checking the computer more than a few times each day. Sooner or later, he would get a response.
To his surprise, the minute he opened his account, he saw that there was a new message in his in-box—but not from the Tampa division of the FBI. Quite coincidentally, the e-mail was from Orb Robinson:
Yes, valid proof will be provided. What is the approximate range of $/gram that you consider “right”? Let’s discuss your possible interest and see if we make a great business partnership. If you are truly interested then, I will provide you with more detailed information.
Sincerely, Orb Robinson
Axel couldn’t believe what he was reading. After more than a week, and directly after he had contacted the authorities—now this Robinson had finally answered him. Like the weed in his garden, the nutcase hadn’t just given up and gone away.
Looking more carefully at the new e-mail, Axel immediately noticed something. Robinson was no longer talking about carats; now he was talking about dollars per gram. To a rock collector like Emmermann, it was a significant difference. Exactly how many moon rocks did this character have? Did he really think that a mineral expert would believe he had in his possession many grams of the rarest substance on earth?
Axel knew one thing for sure: he wasn’t going to wait for Christel to get back from the market to craft his response.
He quickly came up with some numbers, almost off the top of his head. He was playing the role of an interested buyer, so he had to keep it believable.
Hi Orb,
If you can provide valid proof that these rocks are really lunar samples, I would be willing to buy if the price does not exceed 800$/ gram for rocks under 10 grams and 600$/gram for larger specimens.
Axel Emmermann
…
It wasn’t until the next day that Robinson responded. At around nine in the morning, Axel was shuttling back and forth between the kitchen, where Christel was serving his son and daughter oversized waffles painted in more butter than was nutritionally safe, and the computer, checking his e-mail again and again—and then, there it was. Axel no longer even attempted to hide the burst of excitement that exploded across his face as he saw the new message:
Axel Emmermann,
Your prices are just fine; in fact I can do better than that, but I have minimum mass requirements. To give you an idea of my mass range, I would prefer to stay around 1 kilogram. The following is the breakdown of the varying price range …
$500/g (.5–.64 kg)
$400/g (.65–.85 kg)
$300/g (.86–1.5 kg)
Of course, verification will be provided before you purchase, I think that if you are seriously interested then we should meet and confirm this deal in person. Please let me know what you think.
Sincerely, Orb Robinson
Axel leaned back in his chair. Carats had become grams, and now grams had become kilos. Christ, this hoaxer was brazen. Axel quickly did the calculations in his head. At the prices Orb Robinson was quoting, one kilogram of moon rock would cost around $300,000. It was nowhere near what real moon rocks were worth—but it was an enormous amount of money to a man like Axel. Even talking about trading that kind of money for an illegal specimen caused his crime-fighting hackles to rise. This wasn’t a little hoax—it was significant.
Reading the e-mail again, Axel began to think that maybe he had taken this as far as he could go. He now had this hoaxer quoting prices, and the only thing left was for him to fill a suitcase, hop on a plane, and head to Tampa. Of course, he was never going to do that. In forty-nine years, he had never been far outside of Belgium. Certainly not to the United States. And he had no interest in buying what was most likely a huge chunk of fake moon rock. If this was going to go any further, someone else was going to have to take charge.
…
Two days later, Emmermann was back at the computer when the cavalry finally came riding in. He clicked open the e-mail as soon as he saw the header—from the Tampa division of the FBI.
Mr. Emmermann:
First, thank you for forwarding this information to me. You have piqued my interest.
Second, I’m afraid I am somewhat less than familiar with the laws surrounding the sale and/or possession of moon rocks. I assume—based on the letter from Robinson—that it is probably illegal. In fact, I would guess that Mr. Robinson is either in possession of contraband or is misrepresenting (in an effort to defraud someone) a more mundane mineral, i.e. he is violating the law in one way or another. Could you please let me know if my assumptions are correct?
Last, if we do initiate an investigation into this matter, would you be willing to introduce an investigator to Robinson as your representative in the States? Since Robinson has contacted you already, your credibility with him must be sufficient to quell any concerns he may have in conducting an illegal transaction with a complete stranger.
Again, thank you for your alerting the FBI to this matter.
SA Lawrence A. Wolfenden, Tampa Div’n
Axel was initially surprised that the agent from the FBI seemed to be relying on his interpretation of the situation—that he was basically asking Axel for advice on whether this was something that was worth involving the FBI. At the same time, Axel felt a huge gush of pride. The FBI was contacting him from all the way across the world. His wife might make jokes, but he really was doing something real, putting something back in its proper place. If
she wanted to call him a superhero, well, now he had something to show her. But before he printed out the e-mail to run around the house with, he crafted his response.
Mr. Wolfenden,
I believe that your assumptions are indeed correct. The chance that Mr. Robinson has lawfully acquired real samples of lunar rock from NASA is, in my opinion, next to impossible. Therefore he must be in violation of at least a few laws. The tone of his message also suggests to me that this is not his first attempt to swindle some gullible overseas buyer. I may be ahead of things but I wanted to see where this would lead to.
I would be more than willing to introduce an investigator to him if you are willing to investigate this further. In my opinion it would be better that you draft a reply since you’re much more experienced in dealing with these kind of people. A real mineral collector (I’m not sure you have one of those on your team ) would express at least some concern about the verification. Of course, if I really was so gullible as to believe Mr. Robinson, I would be easily persuaded to buy if “my brother-in-law” was allowed to “take a look” at the rocks before buying. Since he already dove under my suggested price per gram, but his “multicarat” rocks have evolved to boulders of a half kilo and more. This would be my reply if I was really an interested buyer …
At this point in the e-mail, Axel drafted what he might say to Robinson if he was really going to go through with the transaction—but in a way to allow someone from the FBI to take over the situation, pretending to be his brother-in-law. Axel was really enjoying the creative aspect of this; it was as if he were a member of the FBI, plotting to bring down a master criminal. Of course, he didn’t really think Orb Robinson was a master criminal, just a nutcase trying to pull off a hoax. Nonetheless, it was gratifying work.
Again to his surprise, the first response he got, later that day, wasn’t from the FBI. It seemed that Orb Robinson was getting impatient.
Axel,
Please indicate if you are interested and/or able to purchase a rare lunar piece. Timing for me is sensitive, so I won’t waste any of yours. We both know that you would be getting a great deal, and if you are still worried that I am trying to sell you a fake, good, I don’t want you to just take my word for it. Please let me address your voiced concerns. Just let me know what they are. Acquiring this specimen is a sensitive matter for me, as you can imagine, and that is why I have the minimum mass requirement. It is more a minimum financial barrier that makes this transaction worthwhile for me and my group. So if you are skeptical about the validity of the origins of the rock, good, I shall provide you with convincing evidence, when I believe that you are serious. If you are concerned that you cannot afford this transaction, I understand. Perhaps you could find a significant number of customers that would be interested in purchasing pieces of your lunar sample and then would have the incentive to make such an investment. Either way, even if you are no longer interested, please indicate it to me.
Thank you, Orb Robinson
Now this was truly fascinating. Orb Robinson had now become “me and my group.” And even more interesting, Robinson had implied that the rocks had yet to be acquired. He didn’t have the moon rocks in his possession? It was something he was going to get, somehow? The size of the specimen had remained in the kilo area, but this seemed very significant. If this wasn’t just a hoax, if this Orb Robinson really was going to acquire moon rocks—then this was a crime that hadn’t yet happened.
Axel ran a hand over his bald head. He had seen plenty of Hollywood movies, and he had always enjoyed the cat-and-mouse games played out between the cops and the robbers. Still, he did wonder—if he was offering money for these rocks, and that made Robinson go out and do something crazy to get them—was he actually inspiring the crime?
Axel shrugged his meaty shoulders. Robinson had already done something illegal. He had endeavored to sell moon rocks over the Internet. Whether they were real or, more likely, part of a hoax—it wasn’t right. And if Axel hadn’t responded, maybe someone else would have. Axel had done everything right. He had contacted the authorities. This Orb Robinson seemed very eager to make the deal happen. He was the one pushing it along, he was the one sending out the e-mails. He was the one committing the crime.
Axel wondered if Christel would agree. Soon he discovered the FBI certainly did.
In a rather long e-mail, Special Agent Wolfenden told Axel exactly what sort of response he wanted Axel to send back to Orb Robinson. It was a play on the draft that Axel himself had written, which filled Axel with more pride. His creative crime-fighting juices had obviously been accurate. Any ethical questions disappeared as he read through the e-mail. His “brother-in-law” had been changed to a “sister-in-law,” obviously because the FBI had a woman agent they wanted to use in the setup. But all in all, it was as Axel had planned:
Hi Orb,
Your prices are better than I hoped for but the specimens are quite large. You spoke of “multicarat rocks” but a 500 gram rock would cost me 250,000$ and that is no small change. This amount is far out of my league and I would have to find one or more financial partners. Are these really the smallest rocks you have? I would be more interested in smaller specimens. I could always split up a larger rock for resale but it still is a large investment.
Nevertheless, I can free 100,000$ on reasonably short notice. I would be happy to spend it on a single (authenticated) rock of at least 250 grams.
I can’t free myself from work right now, so a meeting in person would have to wait until September. However, my brother and his wife live in Pennsylvania, U.S. I trust them completely and my sister-in-law is somewhat of a hobbyist in mineral collecting. She might be able to verify the rocks’ origin, I think. Would you be willing to deal with me through her?
Sincerely, Axel Emmermann
It wasn’t even a full day later when Robinson responded. Axel immediately forwarded the response to Agent Wolfenden. He felt a little like he was watching a movie in real time, played out over the Internet, these e-mails bouncing back and forth from the United States to Belgium and back to the United States. Who knows, maybe the criminal and the FBI were only a few miles apart, both communicating via a rock hound in Antwerp? It was the most exciting time in Axel’s life since his days in the army, even though he was doing little more than sitting in front of a computer screen in his living room.
Axel,
In attempt to keep things out in the open between us, I will address my concerns. As you well know, it is illegal to sell Apollo lunar rocks in the United States. This obviously has not discouraged me since I live in the United States. However, I must be cautious that this deal is handled with delicacy in that I am not publicly exposed. This same law that makes it illegal to sell Apollo lunar rocks also for our mutual benefit makes them quite rare and valuable. My projected return from this has been just over $250,000 and I would of course prefer to be involved in one business dealing and get it all over at once in order to minimize my personal exposure. Having said that, if I can build some more trust with you, then perhaps I could do a deal with you for $150,000 and then if you find enough buyers you could buy the rest from me. As you can see this decreases my safety and increases my exposure and therefore I would only feel comfortable in doing this if I learned to trust you, which is difficult to do under the circumstances. Maybe you should give me the names of your relatives/contacts in the United States and then have them e-mail me and we shall begin to build a level of trust from that. I could meet them in the United States and then settle our mutual concerns and verify the authenticity of the specimens through them. I can acquire three very unique and valuable specimens and I am waiting to provide you with the details about them until I have built some more trust. One of them does involve dust. Please let me know if it is impossible for you to find some more investors in order to make this in one purchase. I would prefer that over two purchases. Either way I am interested in developing this business relationship with you. And I wish you a hefty profit from our encounter. Pl
ease reply with your thoughts and or concerns.
Thank you.
Sincerely, Orb Robinson
Axel contemplated Orb Robinson’s tone as much as the message itself. It seemed the little hoaxer was getting frustrated with Axel’s limited funds—and he also seemed very eager to get this thing done. He also mentioned “three very unique and valuable specimens,” which seemed specific. If this was a hoax, why would he make any specifications at all?
Axel fought the urge to respond on his own, waiting until the FBI sent him a draft of what he was supposed to say:
Mr. Emmermann:
Following is the reply we’d like to send to Robinson:
Hi Orb,
I would prefer to make the first purchase at 100,000$ as we have discussed. If the lunar rocks are proven authentic and all goes well, I will have a much easier time of convincing others to invest and help with a second purchase. I have spoken to my brother and sister-in-law and they would be willing to purchase the lunar rocks for me. As I may have told you earlier, my sister-in-law is a hobbyist in mineral collecting. She has allowed me to provide you her e-mail address, which is [email protected] and said she’d be willing to stand in for me in this initial transaction. Although I trust my sister-in-law, I do not necessarily trust her abilities completely. How will you provide that the lunar rocks you offer are real? Can you provide me some documentation as well? Are they meteorites or samples from one of the Apollo missions? I would not be interested in purchasing meteorites.
Sincerely,
If Robinson likes this, I think the next message will probably be directly to myself and Agent Nance. I’ll let you know.
SA Lawrence A. Wolfenden, Tampa Div’n
Axel understood, reading the new letter as he forwarded it along to Orb Robinson under his own e-mail identification, that from here on out, if things went well, Robinson would be contacting his “sister-in-law” directly, and the FBI would probably be able to take over from there. There was a sense of deflation as he realized that he was giving up his front-row view of the investigation in progress, but really, there wasn’t much more he could do from Antwerp, and he wasn’t about to jump on a plane to meet face-to-face with a master criminal. From the sound of the e-mail, it seemed the FBI was going to put together $100,000 to try to entice this Orb Robinson to make the deal. Agent Wolfenden seemed to be taking this quite seriously.