Several credit unions were the alleged victims of an auto lease theft ring that involved a Miami Beach, Fla., police officer and nine other persons.

According to local media reports, the individuals involved in the ring sought out supposed buyers to secure financing from credit unions for cars that had already been bought and moved out of the country or to lease vehicles that were illegally subleased.

Two individuals, Tomas Manrique, 51, owner of Wachovia Auto Sales, and Todd Javon Smith Jr., 29, owner of Parelelas Motors, allegedly were the leaders of the auto lease ring, law enforcement officials said. The buyers would turn the vehicles in to Manrique and Smith who would then lease them to a third party.

Complete your profile to continue reading and get FREE access to CUTimes.com, part of your ALM digital membership.

Your access to unlimited CUTimes.com content isn’t changing.
Once you are an ALM digital member, you’ll receive:

  • Breaking credit union news and analysis, on-site and via our newsletters and custom alerts
  • Weekly Shared Accounts podcast featuring exclusive interviews with industry leaders
  • Educational webcasts, white papers, and ebooks from industry thought leaders
  • Critical coverage of the commercial real estate and financial advisory markets on our other ALM sites, GlobeSt.com and ThinkAdvisor.com
NOT FOR REPRINT

© 2024 ALM Global, LLC, All Rights Reserved. Request academic re-use from www.copyright.com. All other uses, submit a request to [email protected]. For more information visit Asset & Logo Licensing.