Filed 12/27/21 CERTIFIED FOR PUBLICATION IN THE COURT OF APPEAL OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA FIRST APPELLATE DISTRICT DIVISION THREE THE PEOPLE, Plaintiff and Respondent, A160525 v. YAHOR ZGURSKI, (City & County of San Francisco Super. Ct. No. SCN226691) Defendant and Appellant. In 2018, a jury convicted Yahor Zgurski of using the personal identifying information of another person for an unlawful purpose. (Penal Code, § 530.5, subdivision (a) (section 530.5(a)); undesignated statutory references are to the Penal Code.) The trial court reduced Zgurski’s felony conviction to a misdemeanor and placed him on probation for three years. On appeal, Zgurski contends there is insufficient evidence to support his conviction. He also contends that his probation term must be reduced to one year pursuant to a recent amendment to section 1203a, but in his reply brief, Zgurski acknowledges that this part of his appeal is moot. We affirm the judgment. BACKGROUND I. Prosecution Evidence Zgurski came to the attention of the San Francisco District Attorney because of his involvement in a scheme to defraud consumers who used the internet to purchase a boat from a person ostensibly called Joshua Eisenberg. 1 A. The Boat Fraud Scheme In May 2014, Michael C. wanted to buy a boat, looked on eBay, and was directed to another internet site where he found a boat for sale that interested him. Michael sent an email inquiry to Joshua Eisenberg, who was listed as the boat owner.1 The two exchanged emails and spoke on the phone. Eisenberg offered to deliver the boat to Michael, who lived in New York. He told Michael that he would set up an escrow account in California with a company called ITRADER Global. Michael was to deposit money into that account and then, once the boat was delivered, Michael would call the escrow company and the funds would be released to Eisenberg. They negotiated a sale price of $30,500. In June 2014, Michael instructed his bank to complete a wire transfer of funds to the account designated by Eisenberg. Eisenberg confirmed the transfer and sent Michael a certificate of title that appeared genuine. When Michael received confirmation of the transfer from his bank, it reflected that the money was sent to a bank account in California, but the beneficiary was GV National Trading Services rather than ITRADER Global. The boat was never delivered. Michael tried to contact Eisenberg with no success. Meanwhile, in May 2014, Steve B. was living in Ohio when he attempted to buy a boat listed on eBay but was outbid. A few days later, Steve received an email from Josh Eisenberg, who said that the sale of the boat that Steve bid on fell through and inquired if Steve was still interested in buying it. After further discussion over email, they agreed on a sale price of $23,500. 1 “Joshua Eisenberg” is here a fictitious person, but we omit the last names of real individuals who were victims of this fraud scheme to protect their privacy. 2 Eisenberg told …
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