Two Vancouver men have been sentenced to federal prison terms in two separate fraudulent online car sale schemes.
Juan Carlos de la Cruz Piote, 48, was sentenced Tuesday to 32 months in federal prison for his role in a scam targeting prospective purchasers of vehicles and boats. Del la Cruz and his partners opened multiple bank accounts in Western Washington to accept more than $700,000 from victims who were led to believe they were using a secure payment method online to purchase vehicles advertised on legitimate websites such as Craigslist, according to a press release from the Justice Department.
The vehicles were never delivered, and the money the victims paid was quickly wired out of the country or withdrawn as cash.
The conspirators used business names such as GMC Autos LLC, Cars Consultants LLC, Auto Financial LLC and MGA Engines LLC.
De la Cruz was apprehended in New York in July when he tried to enter the United States from Romania.
Duc Long Tran Vu, 26, was sentenced Friday to nine months in federal prison for his role in a scheme to steal vehicles in Oregon, create fake title documents, advertise the vehicles on Craigslist or other websites, and sell them to unsuspecting customers in Washington, according to the press release.
Vu, a former engineering student at the University of Washington, was involved in at least two sales of stolen cars.
A 2007 Volvo XC 90 was stolen out of the driveway of a Portland home and sold for $15,000 to a couple in Tacoma who saw an ad for it on Craigslist.
When the couple went to transfer the title, they discovered the car had been reported stolen.
In a second incident, Kent police stopped two Seattle brothers who were driving a 1998 Honda Civic that had been stolen in Oregon and advertised on Craigslist. Police, unaware that the brothers had bought the vehicle without knowing it was stolen, stopped them and ordered them out of the car at gunpoint. The brothers had made a cellphone video of the man who sold them the car and took a photo of his identification. Police were able to identify Vu through the identification, which used a fake name. The stolen vehicle was returned to its owner.
