Title Fraud Archives - Page 2 of 3

Road Warrior: Low miles? Used car may be too good to be true

Hardly anybody I know pays much attention to the odometer reading when buying a used car — unless, of course, it’s exceptionally high. After all, low mileage is usually the main qualifier when buying a pre-owned vehicle because it suggests the two of you will likely enjoy a few more good years before it gives you serious trouble. But judging by an arrest for odometer fraud in South Hackensack a week ago, ignoring a low-mileage reading might mark the beginning of serious trouble. “Odometer fraud? How’d they do that?” said Sal, an otherwise astute car owner I know from Barnegat. Like me, Sal thought rolling back odometers was the kind of crime that all but disappeared when computers were introduced in most cars around the end of the 20th century. Those of us who began driving when hood ornaments were still popular remember how amateur mechanics would break into the odometer housing behind the dashboard and roll back the miles by hand. Those days are long gone. And so is the housing, said Robert Foster, an officer in a consortium of state investigators called the National Odometer and Title Fraud Enforcement Association. “It’s easier to do now than it was before computerization,” said Foster. “With the right kind of knowledge and software, a mechanic can get into the onboard computer and reset the mileage to anything he wants.” Theoretically, it doesn’t always require a master mechanic to do this dirty work. “Diagnostic and computerized equipment can be purchased online,” said Maureen Parenta, a spokeswoman for the Bergen County Prosecutor’s Office. “And there are how-to blogs and Internet videos” that can easily be accessed. In the South Hackensack case, Alon Levin, owner of HQ Custom Design, was charged for allegedly using diagnostic equipment to access vehicle computers and lower odometer readings … Continue Reading

Feds: Chesapeake car dealership rolled back at least 76 odometers, secured doctored titles

A Chesapeake used-car dealership rolled back odometers in at least 76 vehicles, some of them by more than 100,000 miles, federal prosecutors allege in court documents. But state and federal officials declined this week to identify the business in question, citing an ongoing investigation involving the Virginia Department of Motor Vehicles and the U.S. Department of Justice. They said the only charges filed so far in connection with the alleged conspiracy involve a former employee of the city of Norfolk who they believe helped cover up the scheme. A DMV spokeswoman confirmed the dealership is “no longer open.” She added that her department’s standard procedure is “to make efforts to notify possible victims of suspected odometer fraud.” William Childress, the executive director of the board tasked with regulating the state’s new- and used-car dealerships, said he had not heard about the case and couldn’t comment. But he added that 76 incidents of odometer fraud linked to one dealership would be a “huge deal.” Steven Bazemore, 33, of Virginia Beach is expected to plead guilty May 26 in U.S. District Court in Norfolk to one count of conspiracy to commit securities fraud. Carteia Basnight, Bazemore’s attorney, did not return calls or emails seeking comment. According to court documents, Bazemore helped the unidentified business obtain falsified vehicle titles while working at a DMV Select branch in Norfolk. The scheme stretched from about January 2010 through September 2013, court documents said. Lori Crouch, a Norfolk city spokeswoman, said Bazemore worked for the city from Sept. 28, 2007, through Sept. 20, 2013. She declined to say whether he was fired or he quit. While working at the DMV Select branch, Bazemore was supposed to help customers register their vehicles and obtain Virginia motor vehicle titles, among other things. Court documents said the dealership’s owner … Continue Reading

Sales of vehicles with rolled-back odometers lead to lengthy jail sentence

A North York man has been sentenced to 450 days in prison after being found guilty of odometer tampering. Mehran Amini received the longest sentence ever handed out in Ontario for illegal vehicle sales, according to a statement from the Ontario Motor Vehicle Industry Council (OMVIC). The statement said Amini was charged after OMVIC investigators discovered he’d purchased 30 vehicles from Western Canada, and shipped them to Ontario. A North York man has been sentenced to 450 days in prison after being found guilty of odometer tampering and ‘curbsiding.’ Amini then rolled back the odometers on the vehicles, which were mostly late-model pick-up trucks with high mileage, investigators said. “They are vehicles that could be near end-of-life, but they were paying huge dollars — $30 to $40,000 — for these vehicles,” OMVIC Director of Communications Terry O’Keefe told CTV Toronto’s Pat Foran. “The warranties were all canceled.” O’Keefe said some of the odometers had been rolled back as much as 150,000 kilometres. The vehicles were sold to residents of the Toronto area, including Sean Wedge. “Buying this truck was a financial disaster,” Wedge told CTV Toronto. “I thought it had 52,000 kilometres which it had 180,000 kilometres. I had to do more than $22,000 in repairs.” Amini’s case was heard by a judge who found him guilty of violations of the Motor Vehicle Dealers Act and the Consumer Protection Act, including “curbsiding.” Curbsiding is the illegal practice of reselling vehicles without having the registered title to a car being sold. “Evidence presented in court showed Amini placed ads in online marketplaces posing as a private seller, though he told some buyers he was a dealer, and that he used multiple aliases,” OMVIC’s statement said. Amini was convicted and sentenced to 450 days in prison, but is appealing his sentence. Records showed … Continue Reading

Lutz man arrested for selling cars with altered odometers

LUTZ, Fla. – One Lutz man thought he was getting a deal on a used car, but he nearly got taken for a ride.Deputies said a self-proclaimed car dealer was selling people vehicles with altered odometers. According to the sign out front, Carmona Service Corporation will do body and mechanic work on your car. But on Wednesday, 64-year-old Pedro Carmona was arrested and charged with 11 counts, including tampering with the odometers on four vehicles. Just last week, Mahesh Modha said he saw an ad on Craigslist for a Toyota Corolla LE with 31,000 miles for less than $10,000. “We were ready to pay cash also, but it turned out we were scammed,” Modha said. Modha said Pedro Carbona and his nephew Gio met him to sell the car. Modha paid $1,000, got a receipt and promised to pay the rest. “They were claiming to be a dealer actually, you know Gio said my uncle is a dealer, so I said I normally trust dealer because dealer had a license,” Modha said. Carmona is charged with four counts of selling vehicles with tampered odometers and selling cars without a license. Modha said a Carfax report helped him figure out the truth about that Corolla. “It came out 121,000 miles which was already reported in 2012 and now the original miles on the car was over 200,000 miles,” Modha said. Carmona is now out of jail on bond and the Director of Consumer Protection for Hillsborough County said, you need to vet your mechanics and body shop owners. “If they have a current license, they’ve been in business for a while and they have no complaints against them that’s one of the best ways consumers can look into whether or not they’re going to have a good experience with that business,” Eric Olsen, division director … Continue Reading

Criminal Charges Filed After CBS4 Hidden Camera Catches Auto Dealer Red Handed

AURORA, Colo. (CBS4) – An Aurora auto dealer has been shut down after an undercover investigation by CBS4, and the attorney general’s office has now filed criminal charges against the dealership.The undercover investigation began when Annette Martin reached out to CBS4. Now the State of Colorado Motor Vehicle Dealer Board has closed CMC Auto. “I “I ran my own Carfax and right at the beginning it showed ‘total loss,’” Martin said. She bought a used Hyundai Tucson from CMC but claims she was not told the SUV was salvaged, and the 44,000 miles on the odometer was actually supposed to be 83,000. She discovered the vehicle’s problems after the purchase. Martin eventually got her money back, but within days the vehicle was back up for sale by the dealer. “That made me very upset,” Martin said. With a hidden camera an undercover CBS4 producer looked at the SUV after Martin returned the Hyundai. The manager, Martin Bernuy, never told the undercover producer the SUV was salvaged or about the odometer’s replacement. In fact, now the odometer replacement sticker was removed, which is a federal offense. CBS4’s Jennifer Brice confronted Bernuy. “But you were still trying to sell it after she brought it back knowing the problems with the car,” Brice said. “Why did you think that was okay?” “I didn’t think it was okay, that’s the reason I didn’t sell it here,” Bernuy replied. Bernuy told Brice he sold the Hyundai back to the auction. The state’s Motor Vehicle Dealer Board began investigating CMC Auto after CBS4’s story aired. Bernuy also told an investigator he sold the car back to the auction but they discovered the Hyundai was sold to a man named Jim. Jim says he was not told about the odometer or salvage issue. The state’s full investigation looked … Continue Reading

Odometer Rollbacks Common With Used Cars In Colorado: ‘It’s Criminal’

DENVER (CBS4)– The used car market is big in Colorado and with that comes the potential of odometer fraud for consumers. Colorado ranks top 10 in the nation for having the most cars with odometer rollbacks, which translates to nearly 20,000 vehicles on the road right now, according to Carfax. “It looked really good on the eBay listing,” said Wayne Boncyk about the Jeep he spotted online. “The mileage was reasonable for nine-year-old car.” At 109,000 miles the Jeep Cherokee seemed like the perfect SUV for Boncyk’s son to drive to and from college so he bought it. Boncyk later ordered a Carfax report, wanting to know about possible recalls, but found something even more concerning. “There weren’t any additional recalls,” said Boncyk. “There was a flag that said odometer discrepancy.” The Carfax report shows the mileage at 109,000 in 2010 but by 2013 it was 173,000 miles. “This is my son’s vehicle,” said Boncyk. “His safety is at stake. We’re talking about 40 percent more mileage on that thing then I was lead to believe that thing had.” It’s now been a year-and-a-half since Boncyk bought the car. He tried reaching out to the seller but got no response. That seller, a 27 year old who lives in Nevada, told CBS4 he sold the Jeep for a neighbor who did not have an eBay account. He claims he does not know about a rollback. Christopher Basso of Carfax says many consumers don’t realize odometer fraud still exists. “We’re not looking for it when shopping for a used car,” says Basso. He says many consumers believe the old analog odometers are the only way to rollback mileage, but the digital odometer’s can be easier. The equipment is simple to find online and is relatively cheap. Boncyk has now done plenty of research … Continue Reading

USDOJ Press Release: Conspiracy Odometer Fraud Conviction/ Sentencing

Monday, March 16, 2015 Car Salesman Sentenced to Prison for Odometer Fraud Scheme A car salesman was sentenced earlier today in U.S. District Court in Los Angeles to serve one year and one day in prison on charges related to an odometer tampering scheme, the Justice Department announced. Jeffrey Levy, 63, of Woodland Hills, California, was also ordered to pay $115,818.80 in restitution to victims who purchased vehicles without knowing the odometers displayed incorrect mileages. In November 2014, Levy pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to tamper with odometers. “A car salesman should know better than anyone that odometer tampering is a fraud and a crime,” said Acting Assistant Attorney General Benjamin C. Mizer of the Justice Department’s Civil Division. “As this prosecution demonstrates, criminals with an electronic tool can easily alter electronic vehicle odometers, defrauding future car buyers.” Levy was a salesman at Galpin Ford in North Hills, California. In his guilty plea, Levy admitted that he referred customers and friends to his co-conspirator, Shamai Salpeter, who rolled back odometers in the driveway of his residence in Woodland Hills. Salpeter was also charged and pleaded guilty to odometer tampering and conspiracy to commit odometer fraud and is scheduled to be sentenced on April 13. Levy knew that some of his customers had exceeded the maximum allowed mileage under the terms of their leases and wished to avoid fees and penalties. He knew that other customers wanted to lower the mileage on their odometers to make their vehicles more valuable when they traded in the vehicles. After Salpeter altered the odometers, Levy’s customers returned or traded in their vehicles with false, lower mileage readings. Levy accepted the vehicles without alerting Galpin Ford that the odometer readings were false. Future purchasers of the vehicles were defrauded because they purchased vehicles with … Continue Reading

Johnson County sees increase in fake car titles

Johnson County officials are cracking down on an increasing number of attempts to use fraudulently obtained vehicle titles at the Treasurer’s Office. The Treasurer’s Office used to catch about one person a year trying to use a stolen or fraudulent car title to take ownership of a stolen vehicle, County Treasurer Tom Kriz said. Now, they’re catching about one a month. The increase in fraudulent titles began three years ago, Kriz said, and has put county staff in a tough position as they try to spot them from among the 3,000 title transfers handled each month. People who present fraudulent titles also have been creating a scene at the county administration building recently as police have been called to arrest those attempting to commit the fraud. On Feb. 5, Tyson E Marshek, 30, of Iowa City, was arrested for allegedly trying to obtain a fraudulent title for a stolen 2011 Infiniti, according to online court documents. Marshek was a part of a large auto theft ring based in Chicago, according to an email from Iowa Department of Transportation Investigator Matt Dingbaum. Marshek was charged with fraudulent practice, a class C felony, according to court records. Marshek’s goal, Dingbaum said in the email, was “to obtain Iowa license plates and registration which eventually end up on stolen cars which have had the vehicle identification numbers changed to match the plates and registration.” Treasurer’s Office staff suspected the attempted fraud when Marshek produced a title from North Carolina, Kriz said. A staff member then called the North Carolina Department of Transportation and was told that the title number did not exist, Kriz said. Deputy Treasurer Jim Pregon called the Johnson County Sheriff’s Office for assistance, according to the email. As soon as a deputy arrived at the administration building, the driver of … Continue Reading

Authorities arrest 28 suspects in connection with vehicle theft operation

A total of 28 suspects were arrested throughout Southern California on Feb. 26 during a multi-agency investigation into a large-scale vehicle theft operation, according to California Highway Patrol. The investigation was spearheaded by the CHP Border Division’s Orange County Auto Theft Task Force (O.C.A.T.T.), along with the Ontario Police Department and more than 15 other state and local agencies from four counties. Suspects who were wanted for vehicle theft, identity theft, credit card and insurance fraud were arrested in various cities. The operation “Hogg Life” developed after an extensive investigation in which O.C.A.T.T. investigators identified 47 suspects, 125 stolen vehicles and several local businesses from information stemming from a traffic enforcement stop by the Ontario P.D. The investigation involved the fraudulent removal of lien holders (legal owners) from the vehicles’ titles, commonly known as “Title Washing.” These vehicles were then utilized to commit various additional crimes throughout Southern California. The coordination of resources from numerous multi-jurisdictional task forces and agencies resulted in 103 vehicles being recovered or accounted for. In addition, as a result of the operation, three weapons were seized and 18 additional vehicles were identified as either possibly stolen, vin-switched or fraudulently purchased. Original Article: http://www.fontanaheraldnews.com/news/article_b6060e62-bf91-11e4-bdaf-33e7e10ecf2b.html

Car dealer who fraudulently sold cars damaged in Hurricane Sandy gets 3 years in prison

Jonathan Olin, 42, of Manalapan, was sentenced to three years in prison today for orchestrating the creation of false vehicle titles in order to sell cars damaged during Hurricane Sandy, state authorities said. (Courtesy of N.J. Attorney General’s Office) TRENTON — A Middlesex County car dealer who used fraudulent vehicle titles to sell cars damaged during Hurricane Sandy was sentenced today to three years in state prison, state authorities said. Jonathan Olin, 42, of Manalapan, for former operator of D&D Auto Sales in Old Bridge, admitted in August that he obtained fraudulent “clean” titles for eight vehicles, seven of which were sold to unsuspecting customers by Pinky N Brain Corp., doing business as D&D. One of his associates, Jessie Dinome, 30, of Jackson, a former employee at the Freehold Motor Vehicle Agency, accessed state computers to create the false titles, the state Attorney General’s Office said. Dinome was sentenced to probation in October. The seven vehicles were sold for a total of about $86,000, authorities said. Olin pleaded guilty to theft by deception and was ordered to pay full restitution to the victims. A third person, Jacob Douek, 40, of Staten Island, N.Y., still faces charges in the scheme. The case was referred to the Attorney General’s Office by the state Motor Vehicle Commission after receiving information from the National Salvage Vehicle Reporting Program and ABC News, which investigated how flooded vehicles ended up on car lots. Original Article: http://www.nj.com/news/index.ssf/2014/12/car_dealer_who_fraudulently_sold_cars