COSTA MESA AUTO DEALER OWNER AND FOUR EMPLOYEES INDICTED WITH CONSPIRING TO EMBEZZLE DMV FEES, SELLING CARS COVERED BY LOANS, AND FILING FALSE TAX RETURNS ON TWELVE LUXURY TRADE-INS

COSTA MESA AUTO DEALER OWNER AND FOUR EMPLOYEES INDICTED WITH CONSPIRING TO EMBEZZLE DMV FEES, SELLING CARS COVERED BY LOANS, AND FILING FALSE TAX RETURNS ON TWELVE LUXURY TRADE-INS

SANTA ANA – The Orange County District Attorney’s Office announces Grand Jury indictments against an auto dealer owner and his four employees for scheming to sell luxury cars bought from unsuspecting victims and selling to other victims without paying off the original bank loans, DMV fees, or taxes.  Automarket is located on Harbor Boulevard in Costa  Mesa.

1. The owner, Nadir AMIRVAND, 47, of Tustin is charged with 19 counts of embezzlement, filing false tax returns, and conspiracy.  If convicted, Amirvand faces up to 22 years, 4 months in state prison.
2. (Former) Automarket executive Jamie GRAHL, 35, of Newport Beach is charged with 5 counts of embezzlement, filing false tax returns, and conspiracy.  If convicted, Grahl faces up to 5 years in state prison.
3. Automarket executive Miguel INOCENCIO, 40, of Tustin is charged with 4 counts of embezzlement and conspiracy.  If convicted, Miguel Inocencio faces up to 4 years, 4 months in state prison. 
4. Automarket executive Daniel INOCENCIO, 35, of Tustin is charged with 2 counts of embezzlement and conspiracy.  If convicted, Daniel Inocencio faces up to 3 years in state prison. 
5. Automarket executive Chris FASCENELLI, 47, of Costa Mesa is charged with one count of embezzlement and one count of conspiracy.  If convicted, Fascenelli faces up to 3 years in state prison.  

Amirvand and his four employees, through Automarket, would re-purchase or take as trade-ins expensive / high-end used automobiles from customer/victims.  Given the expense of the automobiles, these automobiles all had an outstanding loan covering them.  Various financial institutions that specialized in automobile loans issued the loans.  AMIRVAND and others conspired to receive these autos as trade-ins and subsequently resell them without paying off the outstanding loan.  This crime resulted with multiple victims – (1) the financial institution which issued the loans; (2) the original owner who remained liable for the original loan; and (3) the new purchaser, who usually obtained physical possession of the automobile but never received title or registration.

In several instances, Nader AMIRVAND took payment of monies from customers who were specifically earmarked to pay for the required DMV registration fees, did not pay the DMV fees, and pocketed the money instead.  Finally, Amirvand consistently under-reported the amount of sales taxes earned by Automarket and illegally pocketed the sales tax proceeds.

The luxury vehicles included: 2000 MERCEDES S500V, 2000 MERCEDES S430, 2000 MERCEDES CL600, 2000 MERCEDES CL500, 1999 MERCEDES CLK430/600, 2001 MERCEDES CL600, 2002 LAMBORGHINI MURCIELAGO, 1997 LAMBORGHINI DIABLO, 2002 LAMBORGHINI MURCIELAGO, 2002 LEXUS SC430, and a 2001 MERCEDES CLK430.  The estimated loss is over $1.1 million in the theft and embezzlement and in failing to report almost $1.1 million in sales taxes.

This case stems from an investigation conducted by the Inland Empire Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) Task Force, Board of Equalization and the Department of Motor Vehicles.

The defendant Amirvand also faces charges in San Bernardino County for conspiracy to produce and distribute a controlled substance.  Amirvand is out on $250,000.00 in bail.  Amirvand, Grahl, and Fascenelli are scheduled for arraignment today.  The arraignment of Miguel Inocencio and Daniel Inocencio has been continued to Monday, October 27, 2003.