DA: Freeport Man Scammed Car Buyers Out of $380G

A Freeport man was indicted Monday for stealing hundreds of thousands of dollars from customers at several Long Island car dealerships, according to the Nassau County District Attorney’s office.

Michael McGriff, 41, was arraigned on a battery of felony charges that included identity theft, grand larceny, falsifying business records, and scheming to defraud, the DA said.

If convicted, McGriff faces between five and 15 years in prison, officials said.

“People spending money in Nassau County should have the confidence that they won’t get entangled in fraudulent schemes like these,” Acting DA Madeline Singas said in a statement Monday. “When a salesperson does act unscrupulously and the matter cannot be resolved directly, the DA’s Office and the Police Department will do as we did here and investigate and prosecute the case aggressively.”

Between 2009 and 2013, McGriff defrauded at least 17 customers and three auto dealerships, including Lexus of Rockville Centre and Port Motors Lincoln Mercury in Roslyn, out of $381,846, the DA said. McGriff would collect down payments for cars and pocket the cash instead of giving it to the dealer, officials said. Customers would then have to make up for the loss by signing contracts that did not reflect their payments and would end up paying higher monthly rates, the DA said.

In another scheme at Port Motors, authorities said McGriff collected cash payments in full for used cars and caused forged finance contracts to be filed with multiple banks without the customers knowing. The customers had cars repossessed when they refused to pay back the phony loans, the DA said.

In a third scam, McGriff operated under the alias Michael Glinn and claimed to be part of the nonexistent Titanium Auto Group in Uniondale, officials said. He ended up stealing $12,900 in cash to apparently buy a car at auction for a victim from Valley Stream, the DA said.

McGriff was arrested in April and is now officiall charged with second-degree grand larceny, seven counts of third-degree grand larceny, first-degree identity theft, four counts of second-degree criminal possession of a forged instrument, three counts of first-degree scheme to defraud, 12 counts of first-degree falsifying business records, and three counts of making a false statement of credit terms.

McGriff is due back in court July 15.

Image: Port Motors Lincoln Mercury via Google Maps