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http:// --> Ashland, Oregon HOME Valley & State Sports Nation & World Opinion/Editorial Classifieds Business Columnists Obituaries Weather Archive Hot Topics Forum Photo Gallery Past Readers Polls Revels Etcetera Backpage O-Zone Special Sections Real Estate Guide Menu Guide Shakespeare Subscribe Contact Us Rate Card Place an Ad Online Games Movie Preview October 10, 2006 Reasons for scam hard to pin down PORTLAND — Brian Giblin had an offer that was hard to believe and even harder to refuse. Giblin, 41, told a group of wrestling coaches and parents that he had created a company that raised money for scholarships. The North Portland man claimed he got $150,000 from one business, almost $70,000 of which was pledged as scholarship money for seven wrestlers at Mountain View High School in Vancouver, Wash. "Honestly, from the day we found out, it seemed like it was too good to be true," said Kourosh Zamanizadeh. It was. Zamanizadeh, who thought he was getting a $12,000 scholarship to help him afford the University of California-Berkeley, was notified by school officials this spring that there were no funds cover a $2,000 check he had received from Giblin. There was no scholarship money at all, said Victoria Cox of the charitable activities section of the Oregon Department of Justice. Giblin, who acknowledged the scheme to police earlier this year, recently signed a document with the state that forbids him from charitable fundraising. Giblin, who did not return phone calls seeking comment, was not fined because he did not financially benefit, Cox said. "He didn't take the money. He didn't get the money," Cox said. Cox, however, said any violation of the document signed by Giblin would result in a $25,000 fine. Crystal and Pedro Peraza, friends of Giblin for more than 20 years, were among those he misled. Their son was one of the wrestlers for whom a scholarship was pledged. "Pretty much what he did, is he stole dreams and hopes," Pedro Peraza told The Oregonian newspaper. In a July 28 e-mail to Peraza, Giblin apologized for his actions. "I cannot explain my lies, I cannot explain my stories and I cannot explain the hurt I have caused you," Giblin wrote. Leave a Comment: Advertisement: Advertisement: Paid Advertising Inkjet Printers Student Loans Water Filter Helzberg Diamonds Mortgage Calculator Security Systems Advertisement: Copyright © 2006 Ashland Daily Tidings and Ottaway Newspapers. All Rights Reserved.