Comic retailer Ross Rojek has been indicted on eight counts of mail fraud, two counts of wire fraud, and three counts of money laundering and stands accused of cheating 112 investors out of $1.3 million, according to the Sacramento Bee.  The charges are related to his involvement in Face Information Technology, a firm that was purportedly developing facial recognition technology (see 'Where Is He Now?').  The maximum sentence for each count of mail and wire fraud is twenty years; the maximum sentence on each money laundering count is ten years. 

 

According to the article, the last two Comics & Comix stores, in Berkeley and Sacramento, were closed on Friday after the indictment.  The Comics & Comix chain was once the largest comic retailer in the country, with seven stores in northern California.  At one time, Rojek also operated e-commerce Websites at AnotherUniverse.com and Nextplanetover.com, once the largest e-commerce retailers of pop culture products. 

 

Rojek is in the Sacramento County Jail, with bond set at $1 million.