A federal jury in Texas convicted a car dealer from Rowlett for “title washing,” a fraudulent process in which a vehicle’s title is falsely altered to hide information that should included on the title, including salvaged title or a financial lienholder.
A vehicle that has a “certificate of destruction,” “non-repairable” history or “parts only” history can only be utilized for parts or scrap metal, should never receive a clean title.
U.S. Attorney John E. Murphy announced that 49-year-old car dealer Jerry Edward Weaver was found guilty for his role in a title washing scheme. Evidence presented during trial revealed that between June 2009 and October 2010, Weaver, co-defendant Babauk Omeed Harizavi of San Antonio, and others were involved in a scheme to defraud, by requesting and filing fraudulent paperwork with the Texas Department of Motor Vehicles, to receive clean Texas vehicle titles using the mechanic’s lien process.
After receiving the “clean” Texas vehicle titles, the car dealer sold those vehicles to unsuspecting consumers or third parties without disclosing the “certificate of destruction,” “salvage title,” or “parts only” title histories of those vehicles.
Weaver, Harizavi and their co-defendants are responsible for 613 fraudulently obtained Texas vehicle titles issued by the Texas Department of Motor Vehicles.
For story, click here.