Category Archives: Title Fraud

Police: (PA)Nanticoke man altered odometer, title of car he tried to sell

NOTFEA

KINGSTON — A Nanticoke man faces multiple charges after he allegedly altered the odometer and title of a car he sold to a Kingston man. State police at Wyoming say Terry Matthew Panetta, 33, acquired a silver Ford Mustang and the title to the vehicle in September 2013, then disassembled the instrument cluster and altered the odometer by “blacking out” digits with a black marker. Panetta then altered the vehicle title to indicate that the vehicle had less mileage than the actual mileage recorded, and then offered the car for sale on the Craigslist website, police said. A 21-year-old man from Kingston responded to the ad, met with Panetta to see the vehicle at a location on Pringle Street in Kingston and arranged to buy the car from Panetta, according to police. After the vehicle sale, the odometer discrepancy was discovered and the Kingston man, whom police did not identify, contacted state police. Following an investigation, police on Tuesday charged Panetta with felony counts of forgery, tampering with public records or information, changing an odometer reading and washing a vehicle title, a misdemeanor count of theft by deception/false impression and a summary count of improper transfer of ownership. Panetta was arraigned before District Judge James Roberts and released on $25,000 unsecured bail. His preliminary hearing is scheduled for 1:30 p.m. Oct. 21 before Roberts. Original Article: http://www.timesleader.com/news/local-news-news/50452291/

Continue Reading

Feds Charge Pair with Sales of 247 Mileage Tampered Cars

NOTFEA

According to Federal prosecutors, from as early as 2004 and through at least 2010, Kyle Novitsky, 45, and Judith Aloe, 52, both of North Miami Beach, FL, purchased high-mileage, used motor vehicles in Florida, California and elsewhere from a national vehicle leasing company.  Thereafter, Novitsky and Aloe allegedly altered the motor vehicle titles and sales documentation associated with these vehicles to reflect lower mileage, and, relying upon such fraudulent certifications, the Commonwealth ofPennsylvania issued motor vehicle titles reflecting the false mileage. On January 17, 2013, a federal grand jury in Philadelphia unsealed an indictment charging Novitsky abd Aloe with making false odometer statements, securities fraud and conspiracy to commit these offenses. Novitsky and Aloe are charged with selling 247 motor vehicles — some with mileage fraudulently understated by over 100,000 miles — at wholesale automobile auctions in Manheim, PA, and elsewhere, and providing Pennsylvania titles that the defendants knew were issued based upon fraudulent lower mileage. Note: Charges in an Indictment are only allegations, and the defendants are presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law. The Department of Justice, Office of Consumer Protection Litigation offers an online resource about Odometer Tampering and also offers this helpful consumer checklist: Ways to Help Avoid Being Victimized by Odometer Fraud Have a mechanic you trust check out the car. This will cost money, but it can save much more. Look for loose screws or scratch marks around the dashboard. This is pertinent primarily to mechanical odometers which can be manipulated with tools. Also on mechanical odometers, check to make sure that the digits in the odometer are lined up straight–particularly the 10,000 digit. Test drive the car and see if the speedometer sticks. Check for service stickers inside the door or under the hood that may give the actual mileage. Odometer tamperers try to find these as … Continue Reading

Storm Surge: Beware of Title-Washed Cars

NOTFEA

automatic-content-migration CARS.COM — Shopping for a used car in Mississippi? Beware of title washing. The Magnolia State has the highest density of title-washed cars in the country, with 1 in every 44.6 used cars bearing a washed title, a Cars.com analysis has found. That’s well above the national average of 1 in 324.9 used cars. New Jersey, meanwhile, has the second-highest rate: 1 in 87 cars. Related: How to Know if You’re Buying a Flood-Damaged Car Why? In a word, hurricanes. Nearly a decade ago, Hurricanes Katrina and Rita left 600,000 flood-damaged cars across the Gulf States. And in 2012, Hurricane Sandy reportedly left more than 200,000 storm-damaged cars in New Jersey and New York. Salvage titles, or titles for cars that were retitled after they were written off as total losses by insurance companies, proliferated after all three storms. Title washing also surged, where sellers alter vehicle titles to hide their salvage status and sell the cars as regular used vehicles. To do this, sellers often send those cars through states with looser title laws. By contrast, used-car shoppers in Ohio, Florida and Pennsylvania have less to worry about. Just 1 in 2,127 used cars in Ohio has a washed title. Florida (1 in 1,444.9 cars) and Pennsylvania (1 in 1,200.3 cars) round out the podium for low-risk states. CarFax, a provider of vehicle history reports, estimates that title washing could affect nearly 800,000 motor vehicles on U.S. roads. The company has state-by-state totals of title-washed vehicles — any cars (not just flooded ones) whose titles have been altered — which CarFax draws from all registrations issued since 1981. We indexed that data against the total number of registered cars per state, using IHS Automotive data from July 2014. Here’s what we found: automatic-content-migration IHS data encompasses only passenger vehicles (and not vehicles such as motorcycles … Continue Reading

1 Million Used Cars Are Hiding A Terrible Secret

NOTFEA

1 Million Used Cars Are Hiding A Terrible Secret By Hunter Stuart Tens of thousands of vehicles damaged by super storm Sandy are being temporarily stored on runways and taxiways at Calverton Executive Airpark in Calverton, New York, on January 9, 2013 in this aerial view. Insurance Auto Auctions Inc, a salvage auto auction company specializing in total-loss vehicles, acquired the cars and trucks that were damaged, destroyed or flooded by the storm and needed a place to store them. The company made a deal with the Town of Riverhead to lease the airport land and then the vehicles are auctioned online. AFP PHOTO/Stan HONDA (Photo credit should read STAN HONDA/AFP/Getty Images) Just because a used car is cheap and seems OK during a test drive doesn’t mean it’s safe to buy. Criminals have devised ways to artfully conceal structural damage on used cars, allowing vehicles to be sold for a profit even though they may have been shoddily rebuilt after an accident or submerged in ocean water during a hurricane. REAL LIFE. REAL NEWS. REAL VOICES. Help us tell more of the stories that matter from voices that too often remain unheard. Support HuffPost When insurance companies write off a vehicle as a “total loss” after an accident or other event like a flood or hail storm, the law in most states requires the vehicle’s title of ownership to be given a “brand.” That brand permanently marks the car as damaged goods to all potential future owners, but there are ways for it to be washed away. In the old days, it was done with chemicals. Now, photo editing software and digital scanners are used to print new titles. Or, cars can simply be re-registered in different states until the brand falls away. Because there is no national titling … Continue Reading

[CA] Fraudsters using Internet to bait high-end car buyers

NOTFEA

Online fraudsters are going upscale and targeting unsuspecting buyers of newer-model and luxury cars, the Ontario Motor Vehicle Industry Council warned Friday. “This represents a change in strategy by curbsiders and fraudsters,” said Terry O’Keefe, spokesman for OMVIC.  “Curbsiders, unlicensed dealers who usually pose as private sellers, used to target buyers of inexpensive economy vehicles. Now,  we’re seeing a shift towards newer and high-end vehicles such as Mercedes, BMW, Lexus, and even newer-model pick-ups, which command higher prices and higher profit margins. Unfortunately, just as curbsiders commonly misrepresent themselves, they also misrepresent the vehicles they sell, which are often insurance write-offs, accident-damaged or odometer-tampered.” O’Keefe also said he knows of six Ontario residents who lost a total of about $250,000 to phoney websites claiming to selling luxury cars such as Ferraris and Corvettes. Car buyers have to be doubly vigilant: lurking in online classifieds are not only curbsiders, but out-right fraud artists operating fictitious dealerships supposedly based in the U.S, said O’Keefe.  These two trends are converging when it comes to car-buying rip-offs, he said. Residents of border cities, such asWindsor, need to be extra careful as they are accustomed to shopping across the border, said O’Keefe. “Consumers should understand they are only protected byOntario’s consumer protection laws when they buy from an OMVIC-registered dealer,” added O’Keefe. “If they buy privately or outside the province and something goes wrong, OMVIC can’t help.” These fraudsters target Canadians by advertising in Canadian online marketplaces, offering high-end and exotic vehicles at attractive prices, he explained.  “The fake dealerships had polished websites and phony reviews for the dealerships on numerous other websites,” he said. “Unfortunately neither the dealerships nor the cars they purported to offer existed. We know of numerous victims who lost tens of thousands of dollars each.” These online techniques persuade “even … Continue Reading

Fort Bragg Soldier Arrested and Faces Identity Theft Charges in Court on Monday

NOTFEA

By Kelly Twedell, Patch Staff Jul 14, 2013 1:27 am ET | Updated Jul 14, 2013 10:00 am ET How does a soldier in the U.S. Army for over 20 years get away with stealing someone’s identity? Though his security clearances are now revoked and he is in jail – how did he get this far along in the Army?Known to peers at Fort Bragg by Gerald Morrone, his actual identity is William Anthony Morrone, Jr. and his past has finally caught up with him. The soldier is now in jail and is facing charges in other states. Marrone was arrested on May 2, 2013. The soldier was recently flown back from Montana for his trial and will be return for his sentencing after Monday’s court-martial. Morrone also faces charges in Indiana regarding obtaining a license under his brother’s name and other fraudulent charges according to a local source who knows the family. Acting on a complaint from U.S. Army Military Police Investigations, the North Carolina Division of Motor Vehicles’ License and Theft Bureau on April 9 arrested a soldier formerly performing the duties of Garrison Operations Sergeant Major of the U.S. Army Garrison, Fort Bragg, and charged him with 21 felonies in connection with vehicle purchases using his brother’s identity according to a NC DOT news release. DMV License and Theft Bureau inspectors determined that William Anthony Morrone Jr. used his brother’s name and identity documents to trade and purchase vehicles in 2009 and in 2012 at dealerships in Catawba and Cumberland counties. Morrone, believed to be about 53 years old, is a resident of Fayetteville. He also faces pending court martial charges at Fort Bragg. According to reports, Morrone traded a 1997 Jeep Grand Cherokee for the purchase of a 2001 Jeep Grand Cherokee on January 12, 2009 at Steve White … Continue Reading

Five Arrested in Organized Crime Ring

NOTFEA

On Friday, the Pinellas County Sheriff’s Office announced it had arrested five men in an $3.1 million racketeering scheme. The Sheriff’s Office also said it is still searching for five more suspects. Botchev was the ‘ring leader’ according to the Sheriff’s Office. He was arrested Thursday. Credit William MansellIn 2008 the Pinellas County Sheriff’s Office began an investigation into a $3.1 million racketeering scheme involving luxury car and credit card fraud. Five suspects were arrested Thursday in what the Sheriff’s Office is calling an organized crime ring. Five more suspects are still at-large. Arrested Suspects: Tihomir Botchev, 32, of 291 Keating Drive, Largo Ivan Petrov, 31, of 2461 61st Lane, St. Petersburg Georgi Angelov, 28, of 11440 8th Way N., St. Petersburg Martin Jordanov, 27, of 4046 11th Street N, St. Peterburg Lubomir Sandov, 47, 600 Brookside Drive, Clearwater “Thanks to a partnership among national, state and local agencies, we have brought down a multi-million dollar fraud ring that has targeted local businesses in the Tampa Bay region, said Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi in a news release. “I am grateful to the Secret Service and the Pinellas County Sheriff’s Office for their dedication to stopping this criminal operation.” According to investigators, the suspects engaged in obtaining lines of credit in the form of credit card accounts and vehicle loans by providing false and/or inflated information to the lending institutions; and subsequently defaulting on those lines of credit. The credit card activities centered on the creation of multiple fraudulent credit card accounts, investigators said. The suspects would then use the credit cards to make high-dollar purchases through collusive or shell corporations before the accounts went into default. While the credit card applicants listed on the merchant account applications were listed in the names of several of the above listed suspects, … Continue Reading