Lake Co. pair deny $44,000 golf ball scam

Two Lake County men charged with collecting more than $400,000 in a scheme involving personalized golf balls pleaded not guilty Thursday in Lake County Circuit Court.

Marco Maggiore, 35, and Lloyd Morris, 34, are charged with money laundering, theft and mail and computer fraud.

Assistant State's Attorney Mary Stanton said Maggiore, of the 500 block of Checker Drive in Buffalo Grove, and Morris, of the 1100 block of Springfield Avenue in Deerfield, operated businesses named Iconic Concepts and Bellamax.

Beginning in January 2008, Stanton said, the pair offered to sell Titleist Pro V1 golf balls inscribed with company logos and other messages for $12 a dozen.

The rock-bottom price attracted potential customers from coast to coast, Stanton said, and as many as 88 orders were placed that were never filled.

The duo established offices in Lincolnshire, Buffalo Grove and Long Grove for their companies, Stanton said, and moved each time their customers came close to catching up with them.

Lincolnshire police charged the pair in November after receiving a complaint from a customer in Indiana and working with business organizations to find other victims.

Circuit Judge Fred Foreman told the pair they face up to seven years in prison if convicted of the charges, and scheduled a trial for April 12.

He ordered both men, who are free from custody on bond, to appear in court March 23.