Car theft ring used fake IDs to finance cars at dealerships across Illinois

A multistate car or truck theft ring centered in Chicago “stole” cars off the a lot of luxury sellers by using bogus identification to set up financing for high-close vehicles, Lawyer Common Kwame Raoul introduced Tuesday at a information conference with prosecutors from Prepare dinner and DuPage counties.

Six individuals will face prices which includes fraud, identity theft, forgery and aggravated possession of a motor car in link with the theft of extra than a dozen cars— like automobiles stolen from Lexus and Porsche sellers — in a scheme that started at least as much again as previous fall, Raoul and DuPage County State’s Lawyer Robert Berlin explained at a news meeting at the DuPage County federal government complicated in Wheaton.

However he reported the expenses came following a yearlong investigation, Raoul mentioned the circumstance was produced as aspect of the Arranged Retail Criminal offense Undertaking Force he announced two weeks in the past, a collaboration amongst legislation enforcement businesses and prosecutors across the point out that targets coordinated legal networks that steal and fence stolen merchandise.

Charging paperwork reveal that the group used bogus identities, as very well as identity details belonging to a minors and useless individuals, to protected the car financial loans. Between the motor vehicles fraudulently procured had been a 2014 Jeep Cherokee, 2014 Lexus LS 460, a 2008 Jeep Wrangler, a 2010 Porsche Panamera, and a 2017 Audi Q7.

Alleged ringleaders Anthony “Tony Sosa” Brown, 40, of Lansing, and Sierra Wells, 27, of Orland Park, ended up billed in Cook County. Equally confront counts of identity theft, aggravated possession of a motor automobile, arranging a continuing a continuing financial crimes business, economic establishment fraud, forgery and theft by deception. If convicted on all prices, the pair encounter a sentence of up to 30 a long time in prison.

Offered

4 co-defendants face lesser prices in DuPage County scenarios that carry sentences of up to 15 several years: Kevin Bandy, 48 DeAngelo Hackney, 30 James Krout, 47 and Zebedee Moore, 48. The investigation is ongoing.

The plan relied on employing stolen identities to safe credit rating at the dealerships, as properly as identities that have been entirely fabricated, Raoul reported. Wells allegedly obtained the identification details, and Brown recruited persons to act as bogus purchasers.

Offered

It was not clear how lots of of the autos were recovered, but a news launch from the attorney general’s business stated dealers and financial institutions experienced $100,000 in damages — roughly the sticker value of a 2021 Porsche Carrera. Among the dealers described in the costs unveiled Tuesday was Napleton Westmont Porsche, Fortunate Motors, McGrath Lexus and Monthly bill Jacobs Volkswagen. In their remarks Tuesday, Raoul and Berlin thanked law enforcement departments from Barrington to Bloomington for their guidance with the investigation.

Furnished

The “sophisticated” rip-off would have been difficult for sellers to identify in time to end it, reported David Sloan, president of the Chicago Automobile Trade Association.

“It’s really tricky for an place of work supervisor in a dealership or a finance manager to figure out some of these items, so it’s fantastic to hear this is currently being prosecuted this way,” he mentioned.