The New Jersey Newsroom
On July 20, 2011, an Essex County Grand Jury indicted a New Jersey man on 24 counts of theft by unlawful taking and theft by deception in connection with an online car sale scheme that bilked potential car buyers of more than $500,000.
According to a press release, Thomas Miller, of Cedar Grove used the Internet to pose as an automobile wholesaler advertising the sale of luxury vehicles such as Land Rovers, Nissan Muranos, Mercedes Benz, BMWs and Lexus cars. Buyers from California, Illinois, Pennsylvania, Maryland and Canada were told the asking price for the vehicles were $70,000 to $90,000.
In some cases, the unwitting buyers would wire a down payment, others would wire the entire sale price, but Miller never produced any of the cars, said Acting Essex County Prosecutor Carolyn A. Murray.
The 23-year-old defendant looted the car buyers of approximately $650,000 before he was caught. Miller used different business names including Premium One Auto Leasing and New Jersey Automotive Consultants, and also posted cars for sale on Cars.com and Autotrader.com. Miller's arraignment is set for August 8, 2011 before Superior Court Judge Joseph Cassini, III, and he is currently free in lieu of a $100,000 bond.
Murray lauded the following investigators for their work in bringing Miller to justice: Sgt. John Kennedy of the Cedar Grove Police Department, Detective Eric Serio and Assistant Prosecutor Portia Downing of the Essex County Prosecutor’s Office Financial Crimes Unit.
The Director of the Essex County Prosecutor's Office Financial Crimes Unit, Deputy Chief Assistant Prosecutor Walter Dirkin issued a warning to scammers preying upon innocent consumers via the Internet. “If people who use the internet to defraud innocent parties believe the anonymity of the internet will shield them from prosecution, they are mistaken,” said Dirkin, who added that his office would thoroughly investigate and prosecute such cases with the same "vigor as any other crime."
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