Spark EV's Michael Papp arrested in electric vehicle scam

Posted Apr 13th 2008 6:44PM by Sebastian Blanco
Filed under: Etc., EV/Plug-in, Green Daily

Thanks to our reader Mike, we have an update to share about the troubled history of Michael Papp electric vehicle company. Regular readers will remember that Papp is the man behind Spark EV, a company that has been accused more than once of shady dealings. It looks like the New Jersey law officials agree, and have decided to step in to put a stop to Papp's scam.

According to the Express Times, Papp was arrested Friday after failing to deliver 14 electric vehicles to Electric Cars of Houston (which had ordered 10) and Electric Transportation of Arkansas (four). Papp is charged with bilking them for almost $100,000, according to court records. The EVs were paid for in January and February, and Papp told the payers the vehicles would be delivered March 14. They weren't. After trying to track down what happened, the companies asked for a refund. Papp answered that he was filing for bankruptcy, so no go. Apparently, Papp is in Northampton County Prison and being held on $20,000 bail. We'll have more on this as things move forward, I can guarantee you that.

[Source: The Express Times]

Tags: electric-car, electric-cars, electric-vehicle, electric-vehicles, ev, michael-papp, michael-papp-electric-car, scam, scam artist, ScamArtist, scammer, scams, spark-ev, spark-flybo

Related Headlines

Spark EV's Michael Papp might face more charges (26 days ago - 10 Comments)
Electric vehicle company RTEV focusing on battery-powered ATVs (5 days ago - 4 Comments)
Plug-ins and power: promise and problems (10 days ago - 9 Comments)
World Wildlife Fund comes out in support of electric drive (22 days ago - 3 Comments)
Miles ZX40ST Work Truck introduced in Sacramento today (34 days ago - 15 Comments)

Reader Comments

(Page 1)

1. Well, let the "i told you so's, begin!"

Another ZAP! to kill the electric car industry...again. Idiots.

Posted at 10:02PM on Apr 13th 2008 by Dave B

2. The industry has finally arrived! Corruption on par with "real" Fortune 500 companies.

Posted at 10:11PM on Apr 13th 2008 by tankd0g

3. I am soooooo glad that they caught this sheister. But ONLY $20,000 bail? When Papp already stole five times that amount from the dealers? What the judge is thinking? Can't he add?

Now if they'll also finally corner Zap, Hybrid Technologies, and Electric City Motors! I am still waiting to hear that SOMEBODY has actually driven one of the highway-capable cars touted by these companies --and all I hear is dead silence.

Posted at 11:01PM on Apr 13th 2008 by Yanquetino

4. Re, my early and repeated criticism of Papp:

"You're welcome."

Posted at 11:02PM on Apr 13th 2008 by meme

5. You really should put the "spark-ev" tag on this article so people can click it and see the previous coverage.

Also, you probably want to go back and delete the sock puppet accounts that were made to prop up Spark-EV on here.

Posted at 11:22PM on Apr 13th 2008 by why not the LS2LS7?

6. How does this guy get arrested while John Hennesey is still free?

Posted at 11:56PM on Apr 13th 2008 by tankd0g

7. "You really should put the "spark-ev" tag on this article so people can click it and see the previous coverage."

Good idea. Done.

Posted at 1:29AM on Apr 14th 2008 by Sebastian

8. Ah, one more EV manufacturer down the drain.....I bet the lawyers for Exxon Mobil are happy with their payout.

Posted at 1:40AM on Apr 14th 2008 by Mark

9. Can't wait to see how many other people sent this guy money. These are his "Dealers" Wonder how many people sent him money direct? I asked about one of "his" cars and he was sure fast to ask for money. If anyone has access to PACER please post the court docs.

Posted at 2:13AM on Apr 14th 2008 by Organic

10. "Ah, one more EV manufacturer down the drain"

No, one more *scammer* down the drain. What part of, "It's a scam" is hard for you to understand?

Posted at 12:52PM on Apr 14th 2008 by KarenRei

11. HEY! don't add me to that list (Electra-City Motors). I don't claim anything. I WAS a dealer for ZAP. I currently do conversions and other EV related stuff, but have NEVER touted I had anything other than Xebras, conversions, or the hybrid work we do.

So please be careful who you lump into your statements.

-Joseph

Posted at 4:22PM on Apr 14th 2008 by Joseph Gottlieb

12. Can we add Johnathan Goodwin who is currently scamming Neil Young to the list?

He was going to have an ECU flash to make your car (yes, your car, every car) get 5-7 more mpg with no other mods. He was converting Neil Young's Lincoln to electric hybrid. He was only 45 days from being done with it 4 months ago. Wanna check up to see if he finished?

Posted at 5:10PM on Apr 14th 2008 by why not the LS2LS7?

13. As usual, when a scammer gets caught, some of the conspiracy nuts claim "he was framed"! It is not at all uncommon for scam victims to be so taken in that they vigorously defend the scammer, and refuse to believe the evidence.

It is also sadly common for scammers to use whatever big issue comes up for their scam. After the fatal Concorde crash, several spam scams went out, pretending to have access to the estate of wealthy crash victims, and asking for help to claim the millions, just need their bank account info and some money for bribes. Of course, there was no millions, but the victims didn't find that out until their accounts were drained.

Now that high oil prices and terrorist funding is big news, scammers are invading the alternative fuels market, with bogus fuel savers, "magnetic motors", "water cars", and non-existent EVs.

Posted at 6:09PM on Apr 14th 2008 by Chris M

14. such a scam, I kinda gave him the benefit of a doubt when he said he would deliver within 60 days but that came and went. Such a shame all these shady ass holes scam people. I am waiting for the SEC to shut down ZAP

Posted at 8:23PM on Apr 14th 2008 by stevefazek

15. So, when do the Tesla scammers get their due?

Posted at 10:12PM on Apr 14th 2008 by texmln

16. when there is no cars being shown.. not video.. not prototype.. who in the world would invest in it?? Please that's a no brainer.

Posted at 4:46PM on Apr 17th 2008 by told ya so

17. John,
I bought one as well and, so far, no real issues.
I'm glad I'm not the only one.

Reed Cox

Posted at 9:59PM on Apr 17th 2008 by Reed Cox

18. This one will blow everyones mind. I am very happy with my electric car I purchased from Spark-ev. Yes.

Posted at 11:15AM on Apr 20th 2008 by John

Add your comments

Please keep your comments relevant to this blog entry. Email addresses are never displayed, but they are required to confirm your comments.

When you enter your name and email address, you'll be sent a link to confirm your comment, and a password. To leave another comment, just use that password.

To create a live link, simply type the URL (including http://) or email address and we will make it a live link for you. You can put up to 3 URLs in your comments. Line breaks and paragraphs are automatically converted — no need to use <p> or <br> tags.

#	Blogger	Posts	Cmts
1	Sam Abuelsamid	137	25
2	Jeremy Korzeniewski	135	4
3	Sebastian Blanco	124	3
4	Xavier Navarro	64	8
5	Domenick Yoney	51	0
6	Marc Geller	13	0
7	Alex Nunez	12	1
8	Noah Joseph	2	0

Increíblemente rápido, el 9ff GT9 alcanza las 253 mph ¿Es un coche? ¿Es un avión? Es Transition Los chinos usan gadgets a lo James Bond	Recycle an old sweater into a cupcake pincushion Make an eco-friendly reusable sandwich wrap Feeling watched? How to detect a hidden camera
A Handbag for Change Batman's OTHER Ride Swarovski Retractable Lead	Sprint buzz not shared by analysts Sunday Funnies: Loan offers with small print and big consequences The Wal-Mart Weekly: Examining shareholder resolutions, Part 2
The Boston Globe in 60 seconds: Apricots, Artichokes, and A Whole Fish Iced Tea 101 The Big Book of Backyard Cooking, Cookbook of the Day	Buying a Swedish island... or just spending time on one Civil War reenactment battles to watch or join Photo of the Day (5/11/08)

AutoblogGreen