Mother pushes for law to prevent fraud in horse sales

RICHMOND

Debbie Hanson owned a horse, but she refused to be taken for a ride.

When the Chesapeake mom decided nine years ago to sell a show pony that her daughter had outgrown, she never imagined she’d help spawn an FBI investigation or a federal lawsuit. She certainly didn’t envision becoming an activist or a lobbyist.

But when brokers sold her daughter’s pony for $28,000, pocketed the money and didn’t tell her about it, Hanson got to work.

Since 1999, she has been on a crusade. With the lawsuit over and the convicts out of jail, Hanson is now concentrating on the passage of a state law that would protect other sellers from shady brokers who buy and sell horses with no regulation.

“We’re just looking for full disclosure,” she said. “If you’re spending $50,000 to $200,000 for an animal, you should know who the original owners are and if there are significant medical problems,” Hanson told a state Senate subcommittee last week after state Sen. Harry Blevins, R-Chesapeake, introduced SB172.

On Monday, the committee is scheduled to take up the bill again.

Last week, with her 22-year-old daughter Andi sitting in the audience, Hanson explained the bill’s genesis to the

Senate’s Agriculture, Conservation and Natural Resources committee.

In 1999, with 13-year-old Andi about to reach the age limit for showing her pony at horse shows, Hanson signed a contract with a pair of brokers to sell Rainbeau’s Northern Belle for a minimum of $15,000.

The brokers, who operated horse boarding and riding businesses in Virginia and Maryland, agreed to a 10 percent commission on the sale. The men took possession of Rainbeau so they could show her to potential buyers. Then they sold her for $28,000 and kept the sale secret.

Eventually, after Hanson kept showing up at their Chesterfield County horse farm demanding to see a pony they no longer had, the brokers offered to “buy” the horse from her directly for $10,000.

When their first installment check bounced, Hanson began piecing together what had actually happened: The men had sold the horse months earlier in Mississippi, covered up the sale and pocketed far more than the $2,800 commission they would have earned under the contract.

Hanson was surprised by what happened next. Multiple police departments told her there was nothing they could do. As she began to learn of other horse owners being similarly swindled, Hanson pestered law enforcement officials.

“It boggled the mind of all of us that there was nothing on the books,” she said.

Finally, she said, a Powhatan County detective requested help from the FBI. Agents embarked on a four-year investigation that spread across seven states. What they found provided enough evidence for a Richmond grand jury to indict the men for conspiracy to commit fraud and swindling livestock in interstate commerce.

Joshua Cardine and Kenneth Berlin faced 76 felony counts. They eventually pleaded guilty to one count and were sentenced in 2004 to 18 months in federal prison.

Upon Cardine’s release from prison, the judge ordered him not to have any further involvement in the equestrian industry while on probation. He also urged Hanson and the other plaintiffs to get a state law in place before Cardine’s probation ended.

“I don’t have a law degree, but I know I’m right – legally, ethically, morally,” Hanson said in an interview. “I never hired a lawyer – I couldn’t have done this for years if I had to pay a lawyer. I’m just a suburban, working, middle-class mom.”

Her path to the Capitol isn’t a quest for justice just on her daughter’s behalf. Now, it’s about preventing other children from losing their ponies.

Hanson had wanted to use the money from Rainbeau’s sale to buy another horse for Andi. When the money disappeared, so did those plans.

“Some people call us the Mad Pony Moms. These guys dealt with a lot of ponies, which are you know, for children. A lot of kids lost their ponies.”

Word of the federal lawsuit – filed on behalf of eight victims of Cardine and Berlin – spread. Hanson gets dozens of e-mails and phone calls every week from new victims. She has become a spokeswoman for hundreds of other affected families.

Last year, lawmakers in Kentucky contacted her after hearing about her ordeal. The Kentucky Legislature last year passed a law to prevent similar horse fraud.

“Virginia right now is being referenced in all the other states as an example of what’s wrong with the industry. That’s why I think we should at least address it here,” Hanson told senators.

Blevins thinks the bill has a good chance of passing, even if it doesn’t happen this year.

His proposal would triple the damages of anyone convicted of swindling the owner of a showing or racing horse that sells for $10,000 or more. It would also require brokers who represent both buyer and seller in a deal to get their written permission to do so, and require a bill of sale for the transaction.

Gene Hansen, president of the Virginia Horse Council, said his organization voted recently not to support the bill, which he cautioned is not the same thing as a vote to oppose it.

“I think it’s long overdue,” Hansen said, noting that was his personal opinion. Some members were concerned after the first committee meeting that the bill would be amended to require state licensing of horse brokers, Hansen said.

He is familiar with Hanson’s ordeal: “It was truly a pyramid scheme, and it’s something that happens more often than people would think.”

Debbie Hanson said she is hopeful the bill will pass, even if it takes awhile.

“They’ll see me every year until they get something on the books,” she vowed.

Blevins admires his constituent’s determination.

“She is shrewd,” he said.

“A lot of people don’t have that kind of moxie. A lot of people don’t want to have to go to court,” Blevins said.

The senator, who has been a legislator since 1998, said he has occasionally seen people like Hanson before – ordinary folks so miffed about a wrong that they vow to make it right.

“I commend her,” Blevins said. “She didn’t take it lying down. She said she wasn’t going to let it happen to anyone else.”

Kate Wiltrout, (757) 446-2629,kate.wiltrout@pilotonline.com