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fT SOLJNDED too good to be true. I It was. A lumber wholesaler Lrecentlv received a letter from a company ialling itself the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation. The correspondence promised the reader huge compensation for unidentified invoicing errors by "foreign oil contractors/suppliers." Naturally, some fees had to be paid first.

"It's a complete piece of baloney," said North American Wholesale Lumber Association executive Nick Kent. "The guy tried the same kind of thing about nine months ago. I assume he

Story at a Glance

Cons are on the rise in the lumber industry ... recent schemes to watch out for.

wanted you to pony up some money and then, toodle-loo."

Beware of such schemes, NAWLA legal counsel warns, and report them to the U.S. District Attorney. Previously, the lumber business has been relatively safe from scams. "Our industry is not that creative," Kent mused. "They just order a truckload of lumber and don't pay for it."

But in recent months lumber companies have fallen victim to more complex lumber scams, such as the "bust out," As a former con artist explained, "A good bust out is an illusion where you paint a picture that I am going to buy your merchandise and sell your merchandise, but I'm not going to pay the bills. There isn't a salesperson around who doesn't like large orders." The cheat worked such scams for years, having phony deals going at up to five different locations at one time.

Lumbermen's Association of Texas is warning members to be on the lookout, following a major theft from one of its dealer members.

The dealer received an order for a truckload of plywood for an apartment construction job. The load was shipped to a legitimate building site with a recognized purchase order number and agent's name on file. The delivery truck was met by a man in a white pick-up truck who asked that the plywood be unloaded on a trailer across the street so, due to space limitations, it could be stored elsewhere.

The plywood quickly vanished. The dealer didn't detect the theft for several weeks, until he began comparing billings against delivery papers. He filed a report with the local police, but figures the lumber will never be found.

LAT suggests that on any job site delivery drivers record both the driver's license name and number of the person accepting the delivery, as well as any license plate numbers on vehicles at the delivery site. Drivers should also be encouraged to be extraobservant of individuals and vehicles at delivery sites.

In Orange County, Ca., a retail lumber yard was approached by a buyer who claimed he was from a well-known yard about 50 miles away. He wanted to purchase 10 lifts of plywood and supplied credit information that seemed to check out. The buyer arrived to pick up the plywood with his own equipment.

The first yard sent an invoice, but the second company said it not only didn't buy the plywood, "we have never even contacted you people for a price quote." It said it had received a query from someone who wanted to sell them some plywood, but first needed credit information. The credit history was furnished to the supposed seller, who in turn altered the information and used it to purchase the 10 lifts of plywood from the Orange County yard. He changed the phone numbers on the credit information, so calls were placed to a number that was answered "purchasing department." The stolen plywood was later sold to a roofing contractor for about $2 per sheet below wholesale.

Lumber Association of Southern California has begun circulating anonymously-furnished details of crimes to help members guard against future cons. "Just be extremely leery of a new customer who comes in really anxious to do business," warned LASC's Wayne Gardner.

Fortunately, some lumber swindlers have been caught. According to the San Francisco Daily Journal, right before Marshall Mikels filed for bankruptcy protection, the construction contractor placed several large orders for lumber on credit for a nonexistent job. After the lumber was delivered to the supposed job site, he sold it to his partner, Michael Counts, who stored it at his lumber yard and planned to use the lumber to build fences.

One of the lumber suppliers discovered the theft and called the police. Authorities charged Counts with three counts of receiving stolen property and Mikels with four counts of grand theft by false pretenses and three counts of making a false financial statement. Following a jury trial, Counts was convicted on all charges and Mikels was convicted as charged, except one theft charge was reduced to attempted theft. They were placed on probation.

Counts tried to escape on a loophole and appealed the decision. He argued that a supplier had retained a security interest in the lumber, preventing passage of title, and thereby invalidating one of the grand theft counts. Instead the appellate court ruled that it was still an unlawful take; the retained security interest merely converted the crime from theft by means of false pretenses to theft on a theory of larceny by trick.

The best way to avoid such ripoffs, according to Kent, is to "remember the standard advice your mom and pop told you: 'There's no such thing as a free lunch."'

Home Depot Headed For Arkansas

Get ready, Arkansas. Home Depot is coming to town.

The chain has announced it is seeking sites in some of the state's largest metropolitan areas, including Little Rock, Fort Smith, Texarkana, Fayetteville and West Memphis.

"We're analyzing various markets in Arkansas and trying to determine where and with how many stores to go," said John Shern, real estate mgr. for the state. "Arkansas is on our opportunities list."

He said Depot, after studying the area for several years, is finally close to making decisions about sites. "I don't think there's any question that we will get to Arkansas," Shern said. "That's not really the question. The question is when and how many stores do we initially deploy."

Details could emerge during 1995, but that would make it "almost too late to have a '96 store opening," he said. "But I don't think it's unreasonable to have a '97 store opening, which means we'd be starting to look for sites at the end of this year or the beginning of next year."

Openings in Arkansas could follow the pattern Depot used in Louisiana, where it opened fust in the New Orleans area before expanding to Baton Rouge, Lafayette and finally Shreveport. "We are rapidly expanding in Louisiana, and Arkansas is a pretty natural step from beyond that base," Shern agreed.

Roof Delivery Rules Relaxed

At the urging of the National Lumber & Building Material Dealers Association, the Occupational Health & Safety Administration has revised its new Fall Protection Standards to exempt lumber and building material dealers.

The standards appeared to require all employers whose workers come in contact with a roof. even for a moment, to furnish and attach elaborate fall protection equipment.

NLBMDA persuaded OSHA to revise regulations so dealers who deliver roofing materials to job sites by boom trucks and power ladders are not required to purchase fall-protection equipment.

Radio Talks Up Lumber

Helping to promote the lumber industry in the South, the Tennessee Forestry Association has produced a series of radio ads to be aired across the state on the 77-station Tennessee Radio Network.

Contributions are being solicited from companies, individuals and groups such as the Lumbermen's Club of Memphis to underwrite the five spots. The minimum cost is $1,360 for eight spots in one week.

"Cluote" Yof .1" MOnth

"Our forests are undergoing serious ecological decline that could be irreversible within our lifetime."

- Dr. Thomas M. Bonnicksen" forest ecologist and professor, Texas A&M University, testifying before Congress on the lack of manog e ment in fede ral fo re sts

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