who is liable in this situation?

Question

a friend of mine buys and sells cellphones,
Yesterday a Japanese man approached me selling cellphones at a reasonably good price.
Thinking that this deal would benefit my friends business I called my friend and asked him if he might be interested in buying them. My friend was very interested and told me to get the guys details and facilitate a meeting for them. I facilitated a meeting for them for that same day.
They met at my house, I just supplied the venue they dealt with each other, my friend paid the man and the man gave him the goods, about 30 smartphones.
When the Japanese guy left my friend noticed that 25 boxes were empty, he was just conned.

My friend now holds me liable for getting him into contact with this person. I am afraid he is going to arrange people to threaten me etc, I am just as upset as he is for being conned and my wife is paranoid

who is liable , what can i do, he lost out on a lot of money

Anonymous · Answer

First of all he is not your friend if he is trying to hold you liable for his stupid actions.  The deal was not doubt crooked to start with and your friend knew that.  He thought he was getting a cheap deal under the table as they were probably stolen. If he did not check the boxes he is an idiot.  He is totally liable and is just looking for a scapegoat.  Tell him you are going to report the deal to the police so they can go catch the guy and then see his reaction.  With friends like that you do not need enemies.

Caroline · Answer

Caveat Emptor. Latin for Buyer Beware. If it sounds too good to be true, it usually is. As a "business owner" your friend should know that. 
Your friend is liable, you were merely the middleman. No one held a gun to his head and told him to buy the phones (and empty boxes). He should have checked all the boxes himself. 
Sounds like he's looking for someone to blame as he's too stupid and/or immature to accept responsibility.

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who is liable in this situation?

2 Answers