Three Former Car Salesmen Indicted in Auto Lease Fraud Case

Three Former Car Salesmen
Indicted in Auto Lease Fraud Case

April 10, 2008
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contacts: Joe Scott, Director of Communications
Sandi Gibbons, Public Information Officer
Jane Robison, News Secretary
(213) 974-3525

LOS ANGELES – Felony charges against three former car salesmen accused of stealing from customers by persuading them to lease, rather than buy, vehicles at higher costs were disclosed this week when an indictment against the trio was unsealed.

The defendants were indicted by the Los Angeles County Grand Jury on Feb. 21. Although they initially appeared in Los Angeles Superior Court on March 26, the indictment was not unsealed until they were arraigned yesterday and pleaded not guilty.

The case grew out of an investigation by the Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) which brought the evidence to the District Attorney’s Consumer Protection Division. Deputy District Attorneys Dana Aratani and Thomas Wenke took the case to the grand jury earlier this year.

The charges involve a scheme in which the defendants, then assistant sales managers at Power Toyota in Cerritos, persuaded customers to lease, rather than buy vehicles. Misrepresentations, including the amount of monthly payments in a purchase, were made to consumers who wanted to buy vehicles in order to steer them to the higher-cost lease agreement.

The indictment (BA331844) alleged that the crimes occurred in 2004 and 2005. The DMV launched its investigation in 2005 after receiving complaints of alleged deceptive sales practices.

Two of the defendants were charged with four counts each of grand theft of personal property. They are Carlos Mauricio Albornoz, 49 (dob 2-27-1959), and Robert Jeffrey Gauntt, 48 (dob 3-26-1960). The third defendant, Ronaldo M. Dulay, 36 (dob 9-27-1971), was charged with one count of grand theft of personal property. Each count alleged that more than $400 was taken.

All were arrested by DMV investigators in early March and released on bail. Bail for Albornoz, who listed a San Pedro address when arrested in Utah, and Gauntt, of Ontario, was set at $80,000 each. Bail for Dulay, of Carson, was set at $20,000.

The defendants are due back in Department 123 of Los Angeles Superior Court for a pretrial hearing on May 21.

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