Dealership Owner Faces 22 Years in Prison for Defrauding Toyota
Jason Crosby
· 3 min read
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The owner of a West Virginia
Toyota
dealership was recently charged with 22 years in federal prison, all for defrauding the Japanese automotive manufacturer out of nearly $4.3 million. While James Pinson, the owner, has been found guilty, he’s not the first (or the last) dealership to get caught red-handed while conducting illegal activity.Using Toyota’s Customer Support Program, Pinson was able to create a clever scheme, one that worked—if only for a few years. But how did one dealership owner get away with stealing over $4 million from Toyota?
How did James Pinson Defraud Toyota?
Justice.gov
tells us James Pinson, 46, of Pritchard, Wayne County, West Virginia, was the owner of Big Blue Motor Sales, a Kentucky used car dealership. Before being caught, Pinson had devised a way to make money off of buying cars at wholesale auctions. Pinson would: - Purchase vehicles wholesale at car auctions
- Use hundreds of illegally obtained Kentucky and West Virginia drivers licenses to put the title of the purchased vehicles in someone else’s name
- Using Toyota’s Customer Support Program warranty, Pinson got Toyota to buy back the vehicles at nearly 150% of their retail value
Pinson then deposited the checks he received from reselling the vehicles into his own personal bank account. He was able to do this 350 times between 2013-2015. Using the funds he secured from the illegal activity, he was able to run his scheme undercover.
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What will Pinson’s punishment be?
Used car lots always get a bad rap, but Pinson’s dealership truly lived up to the reputation. A federal jury convicted Pinson of:
- Three counts of wire fraud
- Six counts of mail fraud
- One count of aggravated identity theft
- Two counts of conspiring to commit money laundering
He faces a mandatory 2-year sentence, but could ultimately spend 22 years behind bars. Pinson will be ordered to pay back $4.3 million and will have to give up the house that he’d purchased on Pawley’s Island, in South Carolina.
Additionally, Pinson bribed service managers and representatives at Toyota in order to continue his illicit activities. Though it’s not mentioned exactly how Pinson was caught, it’s possible that one of the individuals he bribed finally turned him in.
It took collaboration from the FBI, the West Virginia State Police, the U.S. Postal Inspection Service, the West Virginia Office of the Insurance Commissioner, and the National Insurance Crime Bureau to catch him in the act.
Don’t let fraud scare you away from buying a used Toyota
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