# Man accused of scamming people for martial arts lessons charged with grand theft



## Bill Mattocks (Feb 14, 2011)

http://www.tampabay.com/news/public...rtial-arts-lessons-charged-with-grand/1151046



> TAMPA  A man accused of scamming at least 68 people who joined his  Brandon dojo was arrested Thursday and charged with grand theft and  organized fraud.
> Hillsborough deputies say Doyle Ray McMahan, 45,  ran Dragon Star Dojo in a strip mall on State Road 60, where dozens of  people signed contracts for martial arts class packages.


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## MA-Caver (Feb 14, 2011)

Good! That he was caught... guys like him (among others) that give legitimate MA Instructors a bad name.


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## Aiki Lee (Feb 14, 2011)

The worse part is that he may have turned some of those people off martial arts forever.


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## Indie12 (Apr 18, 2011)

MA-Caver said:


> Good! That he was caught... guys like him (among others) that give legitimate MA Instructors a bad name.


 
Unfortunately this is all too common!



Himura Kenshin said:


> The worse part is that he may have turned some of those people off martial arts forever.


 
Trust is everything in Martial Arts!! Sadly too many "Instructors" betray that trust....


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## jks9199 (Apr 18, 2011)

Key point:


> The Sheriff's Office started getting complaints in early 2008, shortly  after McMahan closed shop and moved out of state. The members said they  were still being billed, and that their outstanding balances were  sometimes thousands of dollars higher than the prices they agreed to.



The charges weren't any assessment of his martial arts instruction -- just his business practices where he charged people for services never received or agreed to.


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## sfs982000 (Apr 18, 2011)

Himura Kenshin said:


> The worse part is that he may have turned some of those people off martial arts forever.


 
I don't know if it'll turn them off the martial arts forever, but it'll certainly open their eyes and I'm sure that they'll be more leary in the future.  I think that if a person really wants to study the martial arts they will pick themselves up from a set back like this and keep searching for another school.  
The thing that really burns me up is that there will be folks that will sterotype all martial arts schools and instructor as being the same as this individual which is truly sad.


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## shesulsa (Apr 18, 2011)

The website.

The mugshot.

The idiot.


Interestingly, no one has ever asked to see my certification.  Most folks don't know to ask for credentials.


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