Titles Unlimited -- Bail Bonds Blues?

[JWheaton]

Update on the recent investigation of Cobra owners in California over how their cars were title.

Wonder what is going to be the next step in this for the car owners.

For histroy on what has been going on read hte follwoing thread.
Search Warrants and All

http://www.sacbee.com/content/news/s...-8002510c.html


Man accused in alleged vehicle registration scam
By Edgar Sanchez -- Bee Staff Writer
Published 2:15 a.m. PDT Friday, July 18, 2003
An Alabama man was arraigned in Sacramento Superior Court on Thursday on 18 felony counts stemming from an alleged car-registration scam that may have cost California thousands of dollars in taxes and license fees.
Richard Weaver, 54, of Birmingham, Ala., is charged with preparing bogus title and registration documents that understated the value of 18 high-end or classic cars that were later registered with the California Department of Motor Vehicles.

By presenting the falsified papers to the DMV since mid-2000, the owners avoided tens of thousands of dollars in taxes and license fees, according to court filings.

But the complaint may be just the tip of the iceberg, according to the state attorney general's office, which is prosecuting Weaver, owner of Titles Unlimited of Alabama.

"We've identified 513 vehicles that were registered in California with titles that came from Titles Unlimited since January 2000," said Hallye Jordan, a spokeswoman for the attorney general.

Each car was valued at more than $45,000, meaning the state may have lost more than $7 million in taxes and vehicle registration fees, she said. But the actual loss may rise to $14 million because "the Titles Unlimited Web site says the company has 'processed over 30,000 automobile titles in the past 28 years,' " Jordan said.

By conservative estimate, more than 4,000 of those cars are believed to have been registered in California, Jordan said, adding the investigation is continuing.

Weaver did not enter a plea during the reading of the charges. He remains free on $10,000 bail.

Outside court, defense attorney Christopher Wing said his client is not guilty.

"We think what happened is he basically got bamboozled by the owners of these fabulous cars, just like the DMV did," Wing said.

Wing said Weaver provides a service for people who have difficulty obtaining title documents for classic cars.

The 17 car owners named in the complaint told Weaver the kind of cars they had, and he prepared the title papers accordingly, the defense attorney said.

"He took the car owners at their word," Wing said. "They were ultimately given bills of sale (from Alabama). But my client did not register one vehicle in California. He basically utilized the laws of Alabama to be able to get titles to these old cars."

If convicted on all charges, Weaver would face up to 14 years and four months in prison.

The probe began in late 2001, when the Yolo County District Attorney's Office looked into the fraudulent registration of a car owned by Terry Brown, a former Woodland police officer, court documents said.

Brown had purchased a 2000 Superformance Cobra that was built in South Africa but exported to the United States without engine or transmission, court papers said. Brown bought the car in Nevada for $37,480.

"In California, Brown installed a new engine in the vehicle," a court affidavit said. "He valued the completed vehicle at $51,358."

But Brown paid Weaver $200 to title the car as a 1965 Ford Cobra convertible worth $13,500, Deputy Attorney General Robert Morgester said in court papers. Using the document, Brown later registered the car in California.

The California attorney general prosecuted Brown, who last year pleaded guilty to making a false statement to the DMV, Jordan said. Brown, who could not be reached for comment, was sentenced to 80 hours of community service.



--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

About the Writer
---------------------------

The Bee's Edgar Sanchez can be reached at (916) 321-1132 or esanchez@sacbee.com.