Wednesday, March 7, 2007

Grand jury indicts Plano man with mail fraud and making false statements in used car sales

By Pegasus News wire

 

A federal grand jury in Dallas indicted Massoud Mortazavi-Koupai of Plano with six counts of mail fraud and three counts of making a false statement on transfer of a used motor vehicle, related to a fraudulent scheme which included concealing structural damage and odometer discrepancies. It is anticipated that Mortazavi-Koupai, 46, will surrender to federal authorities and then appear before a U.S. magistrate judge.

Particularly at risk, local law enforcement officials warn, are senior citizens often targeted by scam artists.

One Fort Collins police officer said the problem could be worse than reported.
“The problem with this type of crime is that so often it goes unreported — victims are often embarrassed and don’t want to report what happened,” said Susan Vance, crime prevention officer with the Fort Collins police.

In 2006, the FTC reported, 669 instances of consumer fraud and 275 incidents of identity theft were recorded in the Fort Collins–Loveland area. The Greeley metropolitan area reported 1,023 incidents of consumer fraud and 537 identity theft reports.

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