Police arrest suspect
in car fraud probe
PHILIPSBURG--Police arrested a man suspected of fraudulent car “sales” in Philipsburg last week Wednesday, the Prosecutor confirmed Monday.
The suspect A.P. is believed to have cheated residents out of money by promising to get them cars, but never delivered, said Windward Islands Chief Prosecutor Taco Stein. It was reported that he had been passing himself off as an agent of prominent car dealership Marshall Motorworld.
The scam was that he would accept money from his “clients” with the assurance that he would lease a car for them and then turn it over to them later. He never did.
According to Motorworld personnel whom The Daily Herald contacted for comment on the matter, P. was never an agent of the company and had been leasing vehicles, but not paying for them. “[A.P.] is not and never was affiliated with Marshall Motors,” a sales representative told this newspaper Tuesday. “He was never connected to us in any way except as a customer.”
The sales rep said the vehicles A.P. had leased, after signing the leasing agreements, had been repossessed by the company after he had defaulted on payment.
A.P. is in police custody pending further investigation.
