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Gregory Gene Shell, operator of Panterra Numismatics in Dallas, is heading toward a Texas federal pokey. He faces a maximum term of five years and a $250,000 fine according to a plea agreement.
Shell offered to purchase gold and silver coins from people throughout the United States. In many cases, he was to act as a middleman, sell the coins to other collectors, and disburse the funds collected to the sellers. His advertising worked, but that was about all.
Once he had the coins in his hand, disbursements were few and far between. Not only did he pay with insufficiently funded checks, he refused to return the metallic merchandise when the sellers demanded their property back. In one case, three coins sent to Shell had a combined value of $12,200.
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