Category Archives: Geographic Locations

Huntsville car salesman sentenced for odometer tampering, bank fraud

NOTFEA

HUNTSVILLE, Ala. (WAFF) – On Thursday, a federal judge sentenced a Huntsville man for tampering with vehicle odometers and bank fraud, announced U.S. Attorney Jay E. Town and U.S. Secret Service Acting Special Agent in Charge Robert Holloway. [ Huntsville car salesman convicted of tampering with odometers, bank fraud ] A federal jury convicted Randy Eugene Greene, 62, in April, of 11 counts of tampering with vehicle odometers and three counts of bank fraud. U.S. District Judge Abdul K. Kallon sentenced Greene to 30 months in prison followed by three years supervised release. Greene is also ordered to pay more than $109,000 in restitution to the victims. The judge also entered a forfeiture judgment in the amount of $28,000. “Greene violated the trust and confidence placed in him by the consumers and financial institutions,” Town said. “The theft and misuse of funds will not be tolerated by those who operate these type of schemes. They will be charged with federal crimes and will to go federal prison.” Prosecutors say Greene was rolling back odometers at RJ’s Auto Sales on South Memorial Parkway. The 11 counts related to these convictions occurred between approximately Oct. 1, 2014, and Nov. 2, 2016. Prosecutors say the largest discrepancy in the changed odometer reading was approximately 218,678 miles, and the average discrepancy in the mileage on the odometers for the various vehicles was 122,046 miles. [ Federal investigators say Huntsville used car dealer rolled back odometers ] In the three counts related to bank fraud, Greene was convicted of engaging in a scheme to defraud Redstone Federal Credit Union. The fraud occurred when the credit union financed three of the vehicles on which the odometers had been changed. Greene was served with a notice of forfeiture related to the bank fraud counts, which includes but is not limited to … Continue Reading

Clocking is still affecting 6.49% of UK vehicles today

NOTFEA

A Rapid Car Check survey has found that 6.49% of vehicles have mileage issues. In a pool of 1 million, 64,986 were found to have issues, despite members of the European Parliament voting in favour of new legislation to combat mileage clocking in cars in 2018. The most common clocked vehicles were the Renault Grand Scenic and Renault Scenic, with a fail percentage of 32.66% and 32.14% respectively. The most common year of vehicle registration was 1998 with a 16.47% fail rate. Vehicle registered in the 1990’s made up six of the top 10, with no vehicles registered after 2003 present. Overall, rapid check estimates that 2,479,180 vehicles in the UK have mileage issues. Before passing legislation in 2018, German MEP Ismail Ertug said around 50% of used cars sold inside the EU, and between 30% and 50% of cars sold across borders within the EU, had been clocked. MEPs called new legislation that included national mileage registers to be made accessible across borders. Car buyers should be able to verify mileage readings regardless of the country it was previously registered. They also called for carmakers to set clear criteria for checking that odometers are tamper proof. Barry Shorto, head of industry relations at cap hpi, said at the time: “In Belgium and the Netherlands where readings are collected more frequently than elsewhere, odometer fraud has been almost eradicated. “We fully support calls for mileage alternation or clocking to be made a criminal offence. Even though clocking has a negative impact on road safety, only six EU countries recognise odometer manipulation as a criminal offence.” Original Article: https://www.motortrader.com/motor-trader-news/automotive-news/clocking-still-affecting-6-49-uk-vehicles-today-07-08-2019

Continue Reading

Car dealers linked to Columbia Count licenses revoked for odometer fraud

NOTFEA

ARLINGTON, Wis. – The Wisconsin Department of Transportation Division of Motor Vehicles has revoked the licenses for two car dealers with ties to Columbia County. An investigation by the Wisconsin Department of Transportation’s Dealer and Agent Section found that Best Motors and Manhattan Motors sold vehicles with mileage discrepancies, which is in violation of state law. The dealerships have licenses operated out of Arlington, Wisconsin. The licenses are linked to a business at 101 Skyline Drive in Arlington. Under Wisconsin state law, each licensee must have an office location and Best Motors and Manhattan Motors are registered to this location. It is possible that these licenses belong to dealerships operated in another state. The Wisconsin Department of Transportation’s Dealer and Agent Section licenses, regulates and resolves disputes about dealerships sales and warranty repairs, as well as educates the motor vehicle industry and public. The group also investigates complaints about odometer tampering involving dealerships and private sellers. Original Article: https://www.channel3000.com/news/two-columbia-county-car-dealerships-have-licenses-revoked-for-odometer-fraud/1105810604

Continue Reading

Two Mississippi Men Plead Guilty in Odometer Fraud Scheme

NOTFEA

Two Long Beach, Mississippi, men pleaded guilty today for their roles in a long-running odometer tampering scheme, the Department of Justice announced. Oscar M. Baine, 41, pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to alter odometers and one count of odometer tampering. Jeffrey Lyn Savarese II, 35, pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to alter odometers. Both defendants appeared in federal court in Gulfport before U.S. District Judge Louis Guirola Jr. The court set sentencing hearings for both defendants for Oct. 17. As part of his plea agreement, Baine admitted that he purchased high-mileage vehicles from wholesale automobile auctions, dealerships, and individuals, and arranged to alter the vehicles’ odometers to reflect false, lower-mileage readings. Baine admitted that he paid Savarese and others to change or alter odometers at his used car lot in Gulfport. Baine then sold the rolled-back vehicles to unsuspecting consumers for inflated prices. Savarese admitted that he began altering odometers for Mississippi and Louisiana used-car dealers in 2011 and reset the odometers on at least 200 used vehicles for Baine. “The Department of Justice is committed to prosecuting auto dealers who defraud consumers by selling vehicles with unlawfully altered odometers,” said Assistant Attorney General Jody Hunt of the Department of Justice’s Civil Division. “Consumers rely on mileage information to assess the value and safety of a vehicle, and that information must be accurate.” “These criminals put the public at risk by rolling back odometers and defrauding hundreds of people out of one of their biggest investments. I commend the investigators and prosecutors for bringing these criminals to justice and for protecting the public from further fraudulent acts by these two. We will remain vigilant as to these types of crimes and continue working to make our roads and communities safer for everyone,” said Mike Hurst, U.S. … Continue Reading

State investigating odometer fraud complaint against business owned by Lee County deputy

NOTFEA

FORT MYERS, Fla. — A Lee County deputy who once campaigned for sheriff is on administrative leave, and now his business is under investigation by a state agency. James Didio ran for Lee County Sheriff in 2016. Fox 4 has learned that a customer of Didio’s used car business, Southwest Florida Motors in Fort Myers, claims that someone rolled back the odometer on a car they bought there. Last week, the Lee County Sheriff’s Office confirmed that Didio has been placed on administrative leave, but would not say why. Fox 4 found that a customer complained to the Better Business Bureau in March that a car purchased at Southwest Florida Motors showed an odometer reading of about 107,000 miles. The complaint states that “the car has over 160,000 miles, but shows 107,000 from having the odometer illegally changed.” The customer claims that the discrepancy was discovered by checking oil change records. In a response to the complaint, Southwest Florida Motors wrote, “The moment I was informed of a possible odometer fraud from years before I ever owned the vehicle, we did a complete AutoCheck Dealer VIN scan. The check came back ‘No odometer fraud found.’” The Florida Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles is investigating the complaint, but the Lee County Sheriff’s Office will not confirm that is the reason for Didio’s administrative leave.. Didio could not be reached for comment on this story. Original Article: https://www.fox4now.com/news/local-news/state-investigating-odometer-fraud-complaint-against-business-owned-by-lee-county-deputy

Continue Reading

Owner of Powhatan auto electronics repair shop pleads guilty in federal odometer tampering case

NOTFEA

A Powhatan County man was convicted Monday for his role in a scheme that rolled back the odometers on more than 50 vehicles, fraudulently boosting the value of each one by as much as $10,000. Michael Carey Eubank, 52, who owns an automotive electronics repair shop in Powhatan, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to alter a motor vehicle odometer and faces up to five years in prison when sentenced Oct. 9 by U.S. District Judge John A. Gibney Jr. A two-page criminal charge filed June 10 alleged that Eubank’s company website advertised services that included “odometer re-programming or re-setting.” It also stated that, “Mileage proof [is] required, odometer tampering is a federal crime.” The charge only identified the company as “Company 1.” But Eubank told Gibney on Monday that his company is Advanced Auto Electronics and was formerly located in Midlothian. From September 2010 to June 2018, Eubank conspired with at least one other person to reset the odometers to false, lower readings. “Individuals brought vehicles, or vehicle instrument clusters containing odometers, to Company 1 and requested that Eubank change the odometers to lower mileage readings,” the government alleged. The only co-conspirator identified in court papers is Lawson Basnight, 49, of Norfolk, who pleaded guilty to the same charge last year and was sentenced to 18 months behind bars. Basnight was also ordered to pay more than $403,000 in restitution — the difference in price caused by the false readings plus, in some cases, unexpected repair costs — to more than 50 victims. Basnight admitted running the scam from September 2010 through October 2016. While the charging document against Eubank referred to multiple odometers, it only cited one specific case: On Feb. 25, 2016, Basnight brought a 2009 Ford F-150 with 165,000 miles on it and Eubank used an electronic tool … Continue Reading

Warrants reveal what police uncovered in odometer tampering investigation

NOTFEA

BROWN COUNTY, Wis. (WBAY) – Search warrants obtained by Target 2 Investigates reveal new information about a complex car fraud investigation in Northeast Wisconsin. Robert Solberg and Joshua Taylor. Photos: Brown County Jail Two men are accused of selling used vehicles with forged titles and altered odometers. In some cases, the odometers were rolled back. In other vehicles, they were replaced altogether. Police say this happened over the past year at several locations in Wisconsin. On June 3, Green Bay Police executed three search warrants and arrested Robert Solberg, 34, and Joshua Taylor, 37. The warrants were served at Solberg’s home, Taylor’s home, and a storage facility on Green Bay’s east side. More than 40 pages of search warrants shed new light on the investigation. It started with one victim noticing handwriting on his vehicle’s title. The case took off from there. WHAT WARRANTS TURNED UP Warrants reveal that during searches of three properties, police seized six vehicles, phones, keys, titles, more than $4,000 in cash, and an odometer cluster–a tool used to alter mileage on a vehicle. Officers also found multiple odometers. One was in a cardboard box. It had been shipped to Robert Solberg, warrants show. The investigation started in March 2019. An odometer fraud investigator from the Wisconsin Department of Motor Vehicles called Green Bay Police. The DMV needed help “with a report of title fraud and odometer tampering.” A Brown County man had reported buying a GMC Yukon for $4,100 on Craigslist. He said he made the purchase from a man he didn’t know. He thought “the handwritten mileage on the title appeared forged from 214,450 miles to 114,459 miles.” The odometer read the lower mileage, but was displaying an error code. He suspected some had “tampered with” it. Police tracked down the original owner, who informed … Continue Reading

The Missouri Highway Patrol Just Cracked A Big Odometer Fraud Case — Here’s How To Check Your Car

NOTFEA

Odometer rollback schemes cost Americans $1 billion a year and is on the rise in Missouri. Like most big criminal cases, the odometer fraud ring that Missouri Highway Patrol Cpl. Nate Bradley recently busted started with one victim. “A gentleman came to my shop here in Lee’s Summit and he said, ‘Hey, I bought this car, and I think I got swindled,’” Bradley recalls. “So I started looking into it and sure enough, he got swindled.” Over a five-year investigation, Bradley eventually uncovered 48 victims of a rollback scheme around Kansas City, according to a grand jury indictment in a case that was recently unsealed. Charged are 48-year-old Wilfred Albanese and his girlfriend, 47-year-old Susan Cunningham. The couple “purchased high-mileage used vehicles and then used a variety of means to alter or reduce the mileage shown on the odometer,” according to the indictment. They would also disable the check engine light, conceal rust and other damage with paint and alter maintenance records, all to make the car look better to their victims. Wilfred Albanese is charged with odometer fraud in a 20 count federal indictment. Missouri officials say odometer fraud jumped almost five percent from 2017 to 2018. Bradley says Albanese went to great lengths to sell the scheme. He had “KC” tattooed on an earlobe, even though he is not from Kansas City. “And then on the side of his neck, he had the Marine Corps emblem, the globe and anchor,” says Bradley, even though Albanese never served in any branch of the military. “So it made him look a little bit more honorable than he actually was.” While charged in the 20-count indictment, neither Albanese nor Cunningham is in custody. Odometer fraud is spiking The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) estimates 450,000 cars are sold each year … Continue Reading

News car odometer rolled back 45,000 miles by Denver-area business

NOTFEA

LITTLETON, Colo. — The U.S. Justice Department calls it “clocking”: intentionally rolling back an odometer to make a vehicle appear less used. Odometer rollback is “the single most common fraudulent issue in Colorado and nationwide.” That’s a bold statement made by one of this state’s top auto enforcement regulators. So, based on a tip from one of our viewers, the FOX31 Problem Solvers decided to take a closer look at a business which advertises “odometer correction.” Odo-Pro is a licensed business registered to the address of a corner house in Littleton. State records show its owner is Peter Petrov Rains. He sells parts and auto repair services, mostly through via mail. Odometer repair and adjustment is permitted in some instances under the federal law. However, “if the mileage on the odometer cannot remain the same as before the service, the odometer must be reset to zero.” What is not permitted is rolling miles on a vehicle backwards with the intent to defraud. Here’s part of the federal law which says so: 327.03 A person may not (2) disconnect, reset, alter, or have disconnected, reset, or altered, an odometer of a motor vehicle intending to change the mileage registered by the odometer; (3) with intent to defraud.. The FOX31 Problem Solvers tested to see if Odo-Pro would reduce the miles, no questions asked, on one of our old news cars: a 2005 Dodge Durango. We had a mechanic remove the odometer, which had 195,839 well-documented miles on it. The FOX31 investigative team then printed off a single-sheet form we found on Odo-Pro’s website. It’s said “Odometer Correction Form” at the top. We requested our odometer be programmed backwards — rolled back to 150, 839 — a 45,000-mile reduction. The form required us to acknowledge that “altering the odometer for personal gain is … Continue Reading

Digital rollbacks: Millions of cars have false mileage on odometers

NOTFEA

(InvestigateTV) – There’s a hidden danger on the roads – one that’s illegal and potentially putting families at risk: rolled-back odometers. Experts say vehicle odometers are easier than ever to roll back. “Our research shows there are now 1.6 million cars that are on roads across the country that have an odometer rolled back, and that’s costing consumers millions of dollars,” said Chris Basso, who works with Carfax, a company that provides vehicle history reports. In a demonstration with Carfax, an odometer on a 2006 Chevy Silverado with 230,323 miles was tampered with in less than 30 seconds. A technician with an inexpensive electronic device was able to erase nearly 100,000 miles of wear, tear and history, leaving the Silverado with 130,483 miles. Watch the video below to see a demonstration of an odometer rollback and hear how that affects the value of a vehicle. “You’re simply taking a device that hacks into the car’s computer. You could take 100,000 miles off a car and artificially inflate the value of it by thousands of dollars, and you’re ripping people off,” Basso said. Those rollbacks can be dangerous and expensive for consumers. “You’ve got older parts that you think the car has that could break down sooner than you expect,” Basso said. “If that car’s being driven and those parts break down, then not only are the passengers of that vehicle in possible danger, but everyone else on the road too.” Original Article (and more): https://www.nbc12.com/2019/04/25/digital-rollbacks-millions-cars-have-false-mileage-odometers/

Continue Reading