Feds Accuse Auto Dealer of Credit Union Car Loan Fraud

An auto dealer allegedly applied for $555,000 in loans from eight credit unions for the same vehicles, federal prosecutors for the Middle District of Tennessee in Nashville said.

Andrew Oliver, 31, of Cadiz, Ky., who is the owner of First Choice Auto Sales in Clarksville, Tenn., and AJ’s Auto Sales in Hopkinsville, Ky., pleaded not guilty to one felony count of bank fraud. However, he is expected to change his plea during a scheduled court hearing in May.

Prosecutors alleged in court documents that Oliver inflated his income on loan application documents and omitted the fact that he had already obtained loans from other credit unions on the same vehicles, a Ford F-450 and a Cadillac.

For the Ford F-450, Oliver applied for six loans totaling $340,000 from the $153 billion Navy Federal Credit Union in Vienna, Va., the $3.6 billion NASA Federal Credit Union in Upper Marlboro, Md., the $216 million Service One Credit Union in Bowling Green, Ky., the $3.7 billion Ascend Federal Credit Union in Tullahoma, Tenn., the $522 million Cornerstone Financial Credit Union in Nashville, Tenn., and the $14 billion Mountain America Credit Union in Sandy, Utah, court documents showed.

On the Cadillac, the car dealer applied for three loans totaling $215,000 at the $88 million Evansville Federal Credit Union in Evansville, Ind., the $2.8 billion Evansville Teachers Credit Union, also based in Evansville, and Navy Federal Credit Union, according to court documents.

Federal prosecutors said the fraudulent loans caused a total loss of $368,585 for seven of the eight credit unions.