Luxury car scam duped banks into giving loans for high-end cars
TRENTON -- A manager and two co-workers at a Bergen County used car dealership have admitted their roles in a $1.4 million luxury car loan scam, authorities said.
Hector Marquez, the general manager of D.I.B Leasing in Teterboro, pleaded guilty to first-degree money laundering and second-degree misconduct by a corporate official, according to the state Office of the Insurance Fraud Prosecutor.
Acting Attorney General Christopher Porrino said in a statement that Marquez, of Monroe, was "the point man in a criminal conspiracy in which banks were duped into approving auto loans for customers whose income levels did not qualify them for financing on the luxury vehicles."
He was one of six people charged in March in connection to the scheme, in which authorities claim they made up phony employment records and pay stubs to dupe banks into approving the loans.
Two other employees also recently pleaded guilty to charges related to the scheme, authorities said. Finance manager Paul Russo, 40, of Scotch Plains pleaded guilty to second-degree money laundering and second-degree misconduct by a corporate official and title manager Lisa Ghobrial, 48, of Ridgefield, pleaded guilty to third-degree misconduct by a corporate official.
Marquez also pleaded guilty to separate charges involving a $139,000 Bentley bought from his dealership that was later torched and reported stolen to an insurance company, according to the Attorney General's Office. He is scheduled for sentencing in January.
Charges are pending against three other defendants in the case: D.I.B. Leasing owner Patsy Galasso, 75, of Cliffside Park; Jennifer Perez, 30, of Union City, who assisted with loan applications; and bookkeeper Michael Ricciardi, 53, of Wayne.
S.P. Sullivan may be reached at ssullivan@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter. Find NJ.com on Facebook.