A federal grand jury in Philadelphia unsealed an indictment yesterday charging Kyle Novitsky, 45, and Judith Aloe, 52, both of North Miami Beach, Fla., with making false odometer statements, securities fraud and conspiracy to commit these offenses, the Justice Department announced today. According to the indictment, as early as 2004, and through at least 2010, the defendants devised a scheme to defraud buyers of used motor vehicles by misrepresenting the mileage of approximately 247 vehicles they sold. As part of the scheme, the indictment charges that Novitsky and Aloe purchased high-mileage, used motor vehicles in Florida, California and elsewhere from a national vehicle leasing company. The defendants are charged with conspiring to alter the odometers in these vehicles to reflect false, lower mileage. The indictment alleges that Novitsky and Aloe then fraudulently altered the motor vehicle titles and sales documentation associated with these vehicles to reflect the false, lower mileage. As a result, the commonwealth of Pennsylvania issued motor vehicle titles reflecting this false, low er mileage, which the defendants knew to be untrue.
Friday, April 12, 2013 North Carolina Man Charged in Odometer Tampering Scheme In an information made public today, the United States charged Francis Marimo, of Raleigh, N.C., with two counts of odometer tampering. The information, filed in U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of North Carolina on April 10, 2013, alleges that from 2008 through 2012, Marimo fraudulently caused odometers in used motor vehicles to be altered to reflect false, low mileages. According to the Information, Marimo purchased used vehicles primarily through online advertisements, replaced the existing odometers with odometers showing lower mileages, and then sold the vehicles to consumers while representing the low mileages as accurate. One of the vehicles described in the Information was “rolled back” more than 100,000 miles. “Consumers rely on mileage readings to determine the value and safety of used vehicles,” said Stuart F. Delery, Acting Assistant Attorney General for the Civil Division. “Victims of odometer fraud lose thousands of dollars on what can turn out to be unreliable and potentially dangerous vehicles. We will continue to prosecute these schemes wherever we find them.” The North Carolina Division of Motor Vehicles and the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration Office of Odometer Fraud Investigation investigated this case. The case is being…
Most secondhand imported vehicles odometers have been tampered with when compared against its irrespective declared cancellation certificate mileage. This was revealed after a thorough investigation conducted by the Fiji Revenue and Customs Authority (FRCA) in Nadi, Lautoka and Suva “We are clear that the odometers have been tampered with and consumers need to keep a look out,” said FRCA chief executive Jitoko Tikolevu. “The odometer readings have been reduced significantly to encourage consumers to buy the vehicles and we found that there is a big gap from the country of origin of the vehicle compared to the readings being showed here,” he said. He said odometer fraud is a serious threat to car buyers because they may be burdened with having to pay extra cash for the vehicle, additional insurance costs, additional maintenance costs and the vehicle safety. “When buying vehicles consumers need to ensure they demand for a cancellation certificate from dealers to verify the readings on the odometer.” He also confirmed that FIRCA is working closely with the Land Transport Authority in providing superior services to the public. By Mereani Gonedua Orignal Article: http://www.fijilive.com/news/2013/04/odometer-fraud-worries-frca/53544.Fijilive
A few months later, she wanted to upgrade and another dealership offered to buy the car from her. But when that company ran a check on the car’s history, there was a problem. Fernandez’s odometer had been rolled back. When she purchased the car in April 2012 from Affordable Motors, the odometer showed 56,447 miles. That turned out to be untrue. The actual mileage was 187,677, miles at the time Fernandez purchased it. Affordable Motors said it has nothing to do with the mileage discrepancy. “There was a problem before us,” said Affordable Motors owner Felisberto “Felix” Sanchez. “The problem was not us. She’s probably right, but the problem was with a previous out of town dealer.” Sanchez said he runs checks on all his vehicles and nothing seemed out of the ordinary with the Chrysler he sold to Fernandez. Odometer fraud is a national problem, but consumers can take steps to protect themselves. In Fernandez’s case, she did not see her vehicle’s Carfax. The Carfax would have provided a history report for her Chrysler including any possible odometer discrepancies. “If I could do it again, I would absolutely make sure I see the Carfax first.” Federal law requires the…
A veteran Winnipeg police officer was allegedly running an international luxury-vehicle scam that duped several victims, including a prominent city defence lawyer, out of thousands of dollars. Justice sources and court documents reveal extensive details of the case, which came to light last year and only became public this week. The police have released limited information other than confirming Sgt. Richard Sierhuis is facing numerous fraud-related charges. Sierhuis, 47, once worked with the Winnipeg Police Service’s professional standards unit, the department that began investigating his conduct last fall and authorized his arrest in late March.
COBB COUNTY, GA (CBS ATLANTA) – CBS Atlanta News questioned the current owner of a 1995 Nissan Maxima in Cobb County on Wednesday. He’s selling the car on Craigslist for $3,500 and with just 140,000 miles. He bought the car from Stewart Smith a month earlier. Smith said he sold the car with 241,000 miles. “It’s been 10 years since it had 141,000 miles on it,” Smith said. In fact, Smith’s Craigslist posting from July included a photograph of the odometer. You can only imagine what he thought when he noticed his old car was for sale again with 100,000 fewer miles. “My initial thought was with the lower mileage I certainly hope is a typo and apparently as your investigation found out, it is not,” Smith said. So CBS Atlanta’s Adam Murphy tracked down the new owner and seller of the car to ask him about it.
WEST BURLINGTON – A used vehicle dealership is in legal trouble after an Iowa Department of Transportation inquiry resulted in 14 simple and aggravated misdemeanor charges against two of the owners. Jon Salvador, a co-owner of Family Motors, 1013 W. Agency Road, is charged with seven simple misdemeanors and five aggravated misdemeanors, ranging from the sale of vehicles without titles to failure to maintain odometer records, according to Maj. Paul Steier of the IDOT Motor Vehicle Enforcement Division. The other owner, Dan Wenig, also is charged with failure to maintain odometer records and failure to take possession of five vehicle titles prior to sale, an aggravated misdemeanor and a simple misdemeanor, respectively. Salvador and Wenig will make separate initial appearances at 1 p.m. and 2 p.m., respectively, Tuesday in Des Moines County Associate Court. The brothers-in-law and their wives co-own the business, hence its name, though neither of the women face charges after the IDOT investigation. Wenig declined to comment, but Salvador denied he did anything illegal and is confident he will be cleared in court. “A lot of those infractions and citations are just trumped up, ridiculous, clerical errors. Not a big deal,” he said.
SPRINGFIELD, Mo. — Excel Auto Group LLC is still under investigation by the state while a lawsuit against it works its way through a Greene County circuit court. Documents from the Missouri Secretary of State’s office show Ashley Bolton, the owner of Excel Auto Group, has also operated under B&B Motors. Scores of people continue to call and e-mail saying they too have found out their odometers have been tampered with. You can go to AutoCheck.com or Carfax.com and run your own check to see if you have been a victim. If you have, you can file a report with the Attorney General’s Office at 1-800-392-8222. If you want to speak with someone in Springfield, you can call the Missouri Department of Revenue at (417) 895-6429. The Attorney General’s Office is busy with the civil investigation into Bolton. No one has said if there’s a criminal investigation of Bolton or Excel Auto Group. Original article: http://www.ky3.com/news/ky3-excell-new-details-in-the-investigation-of-springfield-car-dealership-that-was-allegedly-rolling-back-odometers-20120619,0,1026542.story
HOBART | It was just a “day in the life” for the Indiana Attorney General’s Office as it completed its move from Merrillville to Hobart’s Police, Court and Community Complex. Indiana Attorney General Greg Zoeller filed five lawsuits ranging from foreclosure consultants to violations by local used car dealerships in Lake County. Hometown Motors in Gary and Luke’s Family Motors in Highland face lawsuits for allegedly taking advantage of consumers by rolling back odometers. The Attorney General’s Office said Hometown Motors and its owner John F. Petrassi are accused of knowingly reporting inaccurate mileage and year of a used vehicle and failing to provide titles to purchase vehicles. Luke’s Family Motors, in addition to an accusation of misrepresenting mileage of a used vehicle, is accused of violating the terms of a previous settlement reached with the Attorney General’s Office. “That will up the ante when it comes to penalties,” Zoeller said. “The first time we can usually work something out that makes it clear we’re paying close attention. The second time you’re in real trouble.” Original article: http://www.nwitimes.com/business/local/ag-zoeller-files-lawsuits-against-local-businesses/article_d103c661-719d-5528-8805-2fd5be39cd74.html
SPRINGFIELD, Mo.– A KY3 investigation leads to an investigation by Missouri’s Attorney General’s office. A used car dealership in Springfield — Excel Auto Group, LLC — near Scenic and Walnut Lawn — can no longer operate after being raided on Thursday by the Department of Revenue and the AG’s office. At issue– complaints about rolling back odometers. Julie Schiffner started her search for a car online, and found what she thought was the perfect vehicle for the perfect price. “We asked for a Carfax and he provided it and so we would never have thought to go spend the money then to double check and make sure the one he provided us was correct,” Schiffner said. So they bought it, a 2002 Toyota Sequoia. They had it for two weeks when they got some bad news that turned out to be a blessing in disguise. A close friend just happened to run an independent Carfax check for them. “He checked it to see if the timing belt had ever been changed and that’s when we realized that the mileage was completely wrong,” she said. One hundred thousand miles wrong.