Category Archives: Press Releases

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

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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

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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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(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/

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Dealership Owner Gets Probation for Tampering With Odometers

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SIOUX CITY, IOWA (AP) — A Nebraska man has been given three years of probation for tampering with odometers sold at his vehicle dealership in northwest Iowa. The Sioux City Journal reports that 38-year-old Francisco Hurtado also was sentenced Wednesday to a suspended prison sentence of five years, fined $1,500 and ordered to pay more than $19,000 to seven victims. He’d pleaded guilty to two counts of fraudulent practice. Authorities say Hurtado lives in South Sioux City, Nebraska, and owns Siouxland Auto Sales in Sioux City. Iowa investigators say they found odometers in high-mileage vehicles had been rolled down to increase the vehicles’ value. Court records say Hurtado acknowledged replacing odometer clusters on some vehicles. The records say, however, that Hurtado had not followed Iowa law in resetting the replaced odometers to zero or to the original mileage, nor placing notices on the dashboards noting that the odometer clusters had been replaced. Original Article: https://www.usnews.com/news/best-states/nebraska/articles/2019-04-11/dealership-owner-gets-probation-for-tampering-with-odometers

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Huntsville Man Convicted on Multiple Counts of Tampering with Vehicle Odometers and Bank Fraud

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Office of Public Affairs FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Huntsville – A federal jury on Thursday, April 4, 2019, convicted a Huntsville man on multiple counts of tampering with vehicle odometers and three counts of bank fraud, announced U.S. Attorney Jay E. Town and U.S. Secret Service Special Agent in Charge Michael Williams. Following a four day trial before U.S. District Judge Abdul K. Kallon, and only a 20-minute deliberation by the jury, Randy Eugene Greene, 62, was convicted of 11 counts of tampering with vehicle odometers and 3 counts of bank fraud.  A sentencing date has been set before Judge Abdul K. Kallon on July 17, 2019. Randy Eugene Greene, d/b/a RJ’s Auto Sales on South Memorial Parkway in Huntsville, was convicted by the jury of 11 counts of tampering with vehicle odometers and 3 counts of bank fraud.  In the 11 counts related to odometer tampering, the offenses occurred between approximately October 1, 2014, and November 2, 2016.  The largest discrepancy in the changed odometer reading was approximately 218,678 miles.  The average discrepancy in the mileage on the odometers for the various vehicles was 122,046 miles.  In the three counts related to Bank Fraud, Greene engaged 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 a money judgement in the amount of $28,000. During the trial, the government presented testimony from the eleven victims who purchased the vehicles from Greene and his business.  All said that they would not have bought the vehicles or would not have paid what they did had they known the true mileage on the vehicles.  The government … Continue Reading

Former Kennett, MO man sentenced on mail fraud charges

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A former Kennett, Missouri man has been sentenced on felony mail fraud.  CAPE GIRARDEAU, MO (KFVS) – A former Kennett, Missouri man has been sentenced on felony mail fraud. According to the Eastern District U.S. Attorney’s Office, Nicholas H. Brock, 36, now of Brookland, Arkansas, was sentenced to four months home confinement and five years of probation for mail fraud. Brock was also order to pay $78,180.98 in restitution. In his guilty plea in federal court on Nov. 5, 2018, Brock admitted to defrauding a lienholder for an over-the-road tractor trailer truck claim to the Missouri Department of Revenue that he towed a truck for a breakdown. He claimed the truck had been abandoned and tried to get a title for the vehicle through the Department of Revenue. Brock admitted in court that the fraud began on or about Feb. 10, 2017 and continued through or about June 13, 2017 in Dunklin County, Mo. The case was investigated by the Missouri Department of Revenue and the Missouri State Highway Patrol and prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Paul W. Hahn. Original Article: https://www.kfvs12.com/2019/03/18/former-kennett-mo-man-sentenced-mail-fraud-charges/

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Father and Son Sentenced in Large Scale Vehicle Odometer Roll Back Scheme

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Jackson, Miss. – Mark Longgrear, 54, of Jackson, was sentenced today to 57 months in prison, and his son, Zachary Longgrear, 29, of Madison, was sentenced to 28 months in prison by United States District Judge Carlton W. Reeves for conspiring to reset and alter the odometers of motor vehicles, to giving or causing to be given false statements relating to odometers, and securities fraud, announced U.S. Attorney Mike Hurst and Special Agent-in-Charge Midwest Region, Kevin L. Porter with the U.S. Department of Transportation, National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.  The Longgrears were also ordered to pay restitution, jointly and severally, in the amount of $1.5 million. From 2014 through at least February 2018, Mark Longgrear, along with his son, Zachary Longgrear, both individually and under their company Southern Auto Buyers LLC, bought a large number of late model, high mileage vehicles from numerous sources, and thereafter illegally altered the odometers of these vehicles to show lower mileage. The Defendants forged and fraudulently created paperwork to secure new titles showing false lower mileage on these vehicles, and then sold the vehicles directly to individuals and automobile dealerships at much higher prices.  Some of these rolled-back vehicles were subsequently sold by the dealerships to consumers in the Mississippi area and elsewhere.  Over 200 vehicles have been confirmed with rolled-back odometers. The case is the result of an investigation by the United States Department of Transportation, National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, Office of Odometer Fraud Investigation, with assistance from the United States Postal Inspection Service, and the U.S. Marshals Service.  It was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Keesha Middleton. Odometer fraud is the disconnection, resetting, or alteration of a vehicle’s odometer with the intent to change the number of miles indicated. NHTSA estimates that more than 450,000 vehicles are sold each year with … Continue Reading