Automobile Fraud

Broward County residents charged with auto fraud also known as car-selling scam September 8, 2012|By Marcia Heroux Pounds, Sun Sentinel

Nine South Florida residents — including a Fort Lauderdale Beach police officer — were arrested this week after a yearlong investigation into auto fraud that cost Fort Lauderdale-area businesses nearly a half-million dollars, the Florida Department of Law Enforcement said Friday.

One Boca Raton suspect, Shannon A. Reid, 56, remained at large, police said.

Investigators allege a scheme that defrauded auto dealers and financial institutions by providing false credit information and bills-of-sale to obtain loans that were not repaid. The group included a clerk in a private tag agency and used at least three Fort Lauderdale-area auto dealerships, according to the criminal complaint.

FDLE investigator Victor Johnson said the people charged allegedly were “straw buyers,” buying and leasing cars by using other people’s credit information to inflate car loans.

“In some cases the vehicles were shipped out of the country, so there was no way to repossess them once the lenders realized they were out of the money,” Johnson said.

Johnson said several financial institutions and legitimate car dealerships are victims in the alleged scheme of auto fraud, with losses of $500,000 or more.

Charges filed against the suspects include racketeering, conspiracy, unlawful subleasing of motor vehicles, communications fraud, title fraud and false statements.

Broward County residents arrested and charged were Todd Javon Smith Jr., 29, of Pembroke Pines; Shanovia Maria Smith, 26, of Pembroke Pines; Nicholi O’Neil Smith, 37, of Miramar; Francis Elizabeth Hannan, 49, of Lauderhill; and James M. Paul, 35, of Sunrise.

In Fort Lauderdale, residents charged were Tomas Manrique, 51, and Dennis Esther Matos Torres, 42. Alexandra Olivera, 25, of Hialeah, an employee of a private auto tag office, was arrested on charges including racketeering and title fraud.

George Robert Navarro, 26, a Fort Lauderdale Beach police officer, was charged with racketeering, fraud and unlawful subleasing of motor vehicles, false statements and official misconduct. Navarro has been suspended by the police department.

Navarro’s attorney Michael Band said Navarro has had an “exemplary career” as a police officer and contends a friend he knew in middle school, serving a sentence for drug use, wrongly accused the officer.

“We dispute that he has done anything wrong,” Band said.

The case will be prosecuted by the Fort Lauderdale-Dade County State Attorney’s Office.

The accused misrepresented or provided false information, and the accused knew the information to be false or misleading

The victim believed the misrepresentation or false information to be true and acted on it

The victim incurred financial loss or injury because of acting on the false or misrepresented information

Broward County Criminal Defense Lawyer Jim Weick

Since there are many different kinds of fraud, Florida legislature has enacted new statutes to consolidate and manage similar fraud crimes. A recent addition is the Florida Communications Fraud Act, which consolidates all crimes that use various forms of communication like Internet, phone, fax, or mail to defraud people. Florida Statute 817.034, deals with the Communications Fraud Act and defines organized fraud to be any scheme meant for defrauding and obtaining anything of financial value. When the defrauded property is valued at $50,000 or more, it is considered a first-degree felony offense punishable with a jail sentence of up to 30 years and up to $10,000 fine. -Jim Weick, Criminal Lawyer Broward County

by William Moore

williammoorelaw@aol.com