[Sarge]

I did not read all the replys to this post so I may cover something already said. First of all, overall I am very surprised at the number of ethical people posting on this topic and the tax topics and other such topics in this forum. Here are my thoughts from a law enforcement perspective.

The initial transaction between Sean and Dave is civil. Nothing the police can do there. The only legal recourse would be to sue Dave in civil court for the money.

If Sean carried out the fraud and theft ($700 is a felony in my State), that would be criminal. First, Dave would have to report it to the police, if that did not occur obviously nothing would be done. Once reported, it would be relatively easy to prove that Sean did it with Dave reporting him as a suspect. Sean's computer would be seized among other things. It would not matter if Sean 'dumped' the money to a 3rd person or that PP is not in the US. The theft and fraud occurred in the jusrisdiction where the crime was committed. Those are the real possiblities.

I could comment on the penalty for the crimes but I have become very cynical of that part of the criminal justice system over the long time I have been involved, however I would add that a lot of jurisdictions would require restitution making the amount Sean was out to Dave $1400 besides the cost of court, attorneys, etc.