UPDATE 5/26/2010…NEW YORK DAILY NEWS Pamela Geller 51 year old bikini wearing blogger see photos with Tea Party ties launches ad crusade against ‘Islamization of America’ with SIOA bus ads.
Pamela Geller and Robert Spencer in photo.Newsmax officially added Geller as a columnist in August 2009. Her bio claims that at her regular blog, Atlas Shrugs, she is “bringing you the news you will not hear from the mainstream media, covering little-reported events of great import.” But of course, there’s no attention given to the wacky extremist views she holds.
Pamela Geller in photo.
Rice & Cops: 11 Arrested in Car Dealership Scam at Universal Auto Sales, LLC DBA Universal Auto World, located at 711 Burnside Avenue in Lawrence LI. Detectives investigating January 2007 homicide work with prosecutors to uncover massive financial fraud ring operating out of Five Towns car dealerships.
MINEOLA, NY – Nassau County District Attorney Kathleen Rice and members of the Nassau County Police Department’s Homicide, 4th Precinct and Crimes Against Property Squads, assisted by the New York State Department of Motor Vehicles, announced today the results of a year-and-a-half-long investigation into two Five Towns used car dealerships. The investigation began as a homicide investigation and eventually uncovered a tangled web of financial schemes that have resulted in stolen identities and dozens of ‘mystery’ owners driving high-end automobiles on New York streets and fraud against used car customers.
Rice said that the investigation has resulted in the arrest of 11 individuals and a corporation, now-defunct Universal Auto World in Lawrence. Two former employees of Universal have been arrested, along with three employees of nearby Victory Toyota, also on Burnside Avenue in Lawrence. Six other non-employees have been arrested and accused of participating in the financial schemes taking place at the dealerships.
NY POST ARTICLE Last Updated: 5:00 AM, July 15, 2007…As part of the homicide probe, Nassau County police raided the dealership, owned by auto czar Michael H. Oshry (who has since died of a heart attack in October 2008 he had five children with Pamela Oshry Geller), and Oshry’s Hewlett Harbor home and seized business records (where was Pamela Geller living in early 2007 ?).
| OSHRY, PAMELA G HEWLETT, NY 11557 ALLAS SHRUGS/BLOGGER EDITOR |
DEWINE, RICHARD MICHAEL (R) Senate – OH MIKE DEWINE FOR US SENATE |
$1,000 general |
11/01/06 | |
| OSHRY, PAMELA G HEWLETT HARBOR, NY 11557 ALTASSHRUGS.COM/BLOGGER |
LAFFEY, STEPHEN PATRICK (R) Senate – RI LAFFEY US SENATE |
$250 primary |
09/08/06 |
| OSHRY, PAMELA GELLER HEWLETT HARBOR, NY 11557 ATLAS SHRUGS |
SANTORUM, RICHARD J (R) Senate – PA SANTORUM 2006 |
$1,000 primary |
05/12/05 | |
| Oshry, Michael H Mrs. Hewlett, NY 11557 Self-Employed/Auto Dealer |
REPUBLICAN NATIONAL COMMITTEE (R) | $500 primary |
04/21/05 | |
| Oshry, Michael H Mr. Hewlett, NY 11557 Self-Employed/Auto Dealer |
REPUBLICAN NATIONAL COMMITTEE (R) | $500 primary |
04/21/05 |
“Through a multi-agency investigation, today we have crushed the fraud, the financial mismanagement, the identity theft and the outright stealing that have been commonplace at these two auto dealerships,” Rice said Wednesday. “This investigation started with a murder and eventually led the police department and my office into a tangled web of financial schemes and bogus identities. Detectives and prosecutors simply followed the money.”
Rice said that the investigation into the two dealerships began with the January 11, 2007 murder of Collin Thomas, a 27-year-old salesman at Universal Auto World. Thomas was shot in the back while standing outside Universal’s offices late on a Thursday night. The subsequent investigation by the Nassau County Police Department’s Homicide Squad uncovered numerous instances of potential financial fraud at the dealership. A joint investigation with the DA’s Economic Crimes Bureau, the Police Department’s Crimes Against Property Squad and detectives from the department’s Fourth Precinct and NYS DMV, has now revealed numerous instances of alleged financial impropriety, including the filing of bogus financial paperwork, identify theft and grand larceny.
Rice said that two men, William White and Rajmohan Autar, acting as middle men, allegedly used stolen identities to purchase luxury vehicles from Universal Auto World. The identity thieves would then give the vehicles to a third party for use and for their payments on the car loan. By using stolen identities and a middle man to broker the purchase, the eventual ‘owner’ of the vehicle would avoid identification as long as they paid the car loan on-time and in full. In one instance, the identity of an unsuspecting 75-year-old Suffolk County woman was used to purchase more than $250,000 in automobiles, including a 2005 Maserati, a 2007 Jaguar and a 2006 BMW. White was arrested while driving a second 2005 Maserati that was purchased using the stolen identity of a 53-year-old West Hempstead man. Rice said there were a total of ten instances in which stolen identities were used to facilitate this type of fraudulent purchase.
Numerous instances of “straw” purchases were also discovered. In these cases, White and Autar would set up “straw” buyers at the request of Universal. Rice said defendants Damian Cole, Nazeem Mohamed, Haimraj Prashad, and Maurice Coleman, acting as straw buyers, would receive checks or cash from Universal Auto World for allowing their identities and credit to be used to purchase high-end vehicles that they would never possess and for allowing their signatures and personal information to be used to apply for loans which they never had any intention of paying. This was done to conceal the identities of the real buyers who wanted to remain off state records. At least 20 luxury vehicles, including BMWs, Range Rovers and Infinitis were purchased under this scheme.
In both schemes, Rice said that the loan payments were made by the third parties to ensure the scheme was not discovered. The payments were always made in the names of the victims of identity theft and in the names of the straw buyers. In all, 30 cars were purchased by ‘mystery’ buyers at Universal Auto World. These cars have since been repossessed by the lending institutions or Universal has been forced by the lending institutions to repurchase and pay off the loans on these cars.
Rice said that authorities may never know for certain why the drivers of these vehicles might want to distort their identity. “I can think of a lot of reasons why someone wouldn’t want their name on the books of a automobile, and none of them are good,” said Rice.
Universal Auto World has been charged as a corporation (almost unheard of) and will face up to $80,000 in fines.
The investigation eventually expanded to include Victory Toyota, Rice said, when witnesses in the Universal case told investigators that similar practices were occurring at Victory, and that salesmen often switched from one dealership to another. An examination of consumer complaints raised red flags and investigators uncovered a variety of financial scams and theft occurring at the dealership.
Rice said that Victory’s former finance director George Buzzetta, acting alone and with co-defendant Anne Edgar Lockhart, would tell prospective buyers that in order to get a used car loan, it was necessary to purchase thousands of dollars of anti-theft devices and extended warranties for the vehicles, which was not true. This was done to increase the purchase price of the vehicle, as well as the sales commission. Buzzetta also had a financial interest in the anti-theft device company.
The two defendants would also file loan applications containing false income information with lending institutions in order to push through auto loans, without the purchasers consent or permission. In several instances where customers gave cash deposits, the deposit was pocketed by the salesman and the amount of the deposit tacked on to the amount of the loan without the customer’s knowledge. Customer signatures were also forged on applications for higher cost loans processed with lenders and at rates other than those the purchasers had originally agreed upon.
Another employee of Victory, Terrence Alford, was charged earlier this month with stealing a $5,000 down payment made by a customer to find a certain car. Rice said the customer was told the vehicle couldn’t be found and his check was destroyed. Alford, however, stole and cashed the check.
Rice said that the investigation uncovered 25 incidents in which Victory employees illegally adjusted rates or financial information, stole cash deposits, or tacked on extra items to increase their sales and pad their commissions. As a result of this investigation, Victory has allowed ripped off consumers to return the car and pay back the loan or keep the car and renegotiate the loan with the lending institution. Some refunds have also been made to consumers who were forced to buy non-essential add-ons like “LoJacks” or extended warranties.
“The criminal conduct of auto dealerships that fleece the public through outright theft, excessive interest rates, useless warrantees or products, and steal the identifications of unsuspecting citizens will not be tolerated,” New York State Department of Motor Vehicles Commissioner David J. Swarts said. “I applaud and support the cooperative efforts of Nassau County law enforcement agencies and the DMV’s Department of Field Investigations to promote safety and deter criminal activity by eliminating dealerships that would take advantage of the motoring public.”
The investigation into the killing of Collin Thomas remains highly active. Handling the case for the District Attorney’s office and the Police Department are Assistant District Attorney and Bureau Chief Diane Peress and ADA Brian Heid, of the DA’s Economic Crimes Bureau, Detective Robert Nill from the NCPD’s Fourth Precinct Squad and Detective Ronald Schepis from NCPD’s Crimes Against Property Squad. The Police Department’s homicide investigation is being led by Detective Michael O’Leary. Supervising Investigator Gerard Harrison from NYS DMV’s Field Investigations Unit assisted the NCPD and DA’s office throughout the investigation.
The charges against the defendants are merely accusations and the defendants are presumed innocent until and unless proven guilty.
Universal Defendants;
Universal Auto Sales, LLC DBA Universal Auto World, located at 711 Burnside Avenue in Lawrence, is charged with Scheme to Defraud in the First Degree, seven counts of Grand Larceny in the Second Degree, one count of Grand Larceny in the Third Degree, and 16 counts of Falsification of Business Records in the First Degree. It is represented by Joseph Gentile, Esq.
Christ Tsiropoulos, 38, of Bellmore is the former general manager and co-owner of Universal Auto Sales, LLC. He was arrested in December 4, 2007 and charged with Scheme to Defraud in the First Degree, seven counts of Grand Larceny in the Second Degree, one count of Grand Larceny in the Third Degree, and 16 counts of Falsification of Business Records in the First Degree. He is represented by Steven Singer, Esq. He is facing a maximum of 15 years in prison if convicted.
Mark Harley, 30, of Far Rockaway is the former finance manager of Universal. He was arrested in December 3, 2007 and charged with Scheme to Defraud in the First Degree, seven counts of Grand Larceny in the Second Degree, one count of Grand Larceny in the Third Degree, six counts of Identity Theft in the First Degree and 22 counts of Falsification of Business Records in the First Degree. He is represented by Edward Galison, Esq. He is facing a maximum of 15 years in prison if convicted.
Rajmohan Autar, 33, of Queens Village was arrested in January 4, 2008 and charged with Scheme to Defraud in the First Degree, seven counts of Grand Larceny in the Second Degree, one count of Grand Larceny in the Third Degree, and 14 counts of Falsification of Business Records in the First Degree. He is represented by David Mirsky, Esq. He is facing a maximum of 15 years in prison if convicted.
William White, 28, of Bay Shore was arrested in July 3, 2007 and charged with Grand Larceny in the Second Degree. He is represented by Cornell Bouse, Esq. He is facing a maximum of 15 years in prison if convicted.
Damian Cole, 44, of Cambria Heights was arrested in December 5, 2007 and charged with Scheme to Defraud in the First Degree, three counts of Grand Larceny in the Second Degree, four counts of Grand Larceny in the Third Degree, and seven counts of Falsification of Business Records in the First Degree. He is represented by Domonic Addabbo, Esq. He is facing a maximum of 15 years in prison if convicted.
Nazeem Mohamed, 43, of Richmond Hill was arrested in December 5, 2007 and charged with Scheme to Defraud in the First Degree, two counts of Grand Larceny in the Second Degree, three counts of Grand Larceny in the Third Degree, and five counts of Falsification of Business Records in the First Degree. He is represented by Nick Marino Esq. He is facing a maximum of 15 years in prison if convicted.
Haimraj Prashad, 38, of Jamaica, Queens was arrested in December 5, 2007 and charged with Scheme to Defraud in the First Degree, four counts of Grand Larceny in the Third Degree, and four counts of Falsification of Business Records in the First Degree. He is represented by Rovshan Sharov, Esq. He is facing a maximum of seven years in prison if convicted.
Maurice Coleman, 22, of Elmont was arrested in December 20, 2007 and charged with Scheme to Defraud in the First Degree, two counts of Grand Larceny in the Third Degree, and two counts of Falsification of Business Records in the First Degree. He is represented by Paul Senzer, Esq. He is facing a maximum of seven years in prison if convicted.
Victory Toyota Defendants; George Buzzetta, 56, of Port Charlotte, Fla. is the former finance manager for Victory Toyota. He is charged with Scheme to Defraud in the First Degree, two counts of Grand Larceny in the Third Degree, two counts of Identity Theft in the First Degree and two counts of Falsification of Business Records in the First Degree. He is being extradited from Florida. He is facing a maximum of seven years in prison if convicted. Prior record for George Buzzetta;
BUZZETTA, GEORGE MALE 05/06/1954 RELEASED, EDGECOMBE
Anne Edgar Lockhart, 29, of Springfield Garden is the former sales manager of Victory Toyota and was arrested in August 14, 2007. She is charged with Identity Theft in the First Degree and two counts of Criminal Possession of a Forged Instrument in the Second Degree. She is represented by William McDonald, Esq. She is facing a maximum of seven years in prison if convicted.
Terrence Alford, 47, of Elmont is a former salesman at Victory Toyota and was arrested in July 3, 2008. He is charged with Grand Larceny in the Third Degree and Criminal Possession of a Forged Instrument in the Second Degree. He is facing a maximum of seven years in prison if convicted.
Bill Warner Private Investigator at WBI Inc. www.wbipi.com
