Not sure exactly how this alleged scam works/worked. Yewchoo Ng, 27, of Boulder, is accused of ripping off a bunch of retailers for more than $180,000 by buying new 360s and PS3s, prying off their serials and slapping them on old consoles, returning them for the cash and then, I presume, selling off the good merch on eBay or something. For this he's facing 20 years in the federal slammer and a fat fine.

For this scam to work, you really need access to a cheap supply of defective consoles, right? Unless, what, he was slapping serials on ColecoVisions, Atari 7800s, boxes of rocks with "PLAYSTASHUN 4" written on them? That's a hell of a lot of overhead for a ripoff, so my guess is the $180,000 is the value of all the machines he bought/returned, not his tainted profit.

Sorry, I just can't understand how he had that many defective/inoperable consoles to carry out this scam as described. Any alternative ideas?

Man accused of stealing $180,000 in Xbox, PS3 scheme [KUSA-TV of Denver]