Marwan Abdellatif, Douglas Nissan Manager, is Fugitive in Elaborate Customer Fraud Case

The Orange County District Attorney's Office is reaching out to the public in its search for the former Douglas Nissan desk manager, who is accused of stealing the identities of unsuspecting customers and defrauding banks
in the sale of used cars at the Orange dealership.

A $2 million arrest warrant has been issued for 48-year-old Marwan Abdellatif, a former Lakewood resident who is believed to be hiding out in Riverside County to avoid prosecution for an elaborate conspiracy that has also led to charges against Douglas Nissan's part-owner Frank Ignacio Urbano, 56, of Anaheim, and desk managers Luz
Belem Corral, 28, of Costa Mesa, and Kevin Allen DeRosier, 30, of Anaheim.
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The OCDA statement on the case follows:

November 8, 2010


OCDA SEEKS PUBLIC'S HELP LOCATING FUGITIVE DOUGLAS NISSAN MANAGER
CHARGED WITH DEFRAUDING CUSTOMERS AND BANKS IN THEFT CONSPIRACY

*Defendant is believed to be living in the Riverside County area; photo available upon request



SANTA ANA – The Orange County District Attorney's Office (OCDA) is
seeking the public's help in locating a fugitive charged in an elaborate
conspiracy to steal unsuspecting customer identities and defraud banks
in the sale of used cars while working as a desk manager at Douglas
Nissan in Orange. Marwan Abdellatif, 48, Lakewood, was charged Nov. 5,
2010, with one felony count of failing to appear in court. He is also
charged with 43 felony counts of forgery, 31 felony counts of grand
theft, one felony count of conspiracy to defraud another of property,
and one felony count of conspiracy to commit a crime. If convicted, he
faces a maximum sentence of 38 years in state prison. Abdellatif has a
$2 million warrant for his arrest and is believed to be living in the
Riverside County area. Anyone with information regarding his whereabouts
is asked to call their local police department's non-emergency number
or Supervising District Attorney Investigator Ron Frazier at (714)
347-8691.



Three co-defendants from Douglas Nissan are also charged in this case.
Part-Owner Frank Ignacio Urbano, 56, Anaheim, and desk managers Luz
Belem Corral, 28, Costa Mesa, and Kevin Allen DeRosier, 30, Anaheim,
faces the same charges as Abdellatif (with exception to the felony
failure to appear in court count). Corral is charged with an additional
felony count of perjury by declaration and faces a maximum sentence of
39 years in state prison if convicted. Urbano and DeRosier each face a
maximum sentence of 37 years and four months in state prison if
convicted. All three are out of custody on $100,000 bail.



DeRosier is scheduled for a preliminary hearing on Jan. 5, 2011, in
Department C-55, Central Justice Center, Santa Ana. Urbano and Corral
are scheduled for arraignment Jan. 16, 2010, in Department C-5.



ORIGIN OF CASE AND SEARCH WARRANT SERVICE JULY 2007

In April 2007, the OCDA began investigating possible fraudulent activity
at Douglas car dealerships. The OCDA discovered that between 2005 and
2007, 27 relevant identity theft police reports were filed with the
Orange Police Department regarding Douglas Nissan of Orange. More than
100 complaints had been filed with the DMV and Better Business Bureau
about Douglas Nissan and the other dealerships for unfair business
practices.



Investigators from the OCDA searched Douglas Nissan at 1140 West Katella
Avenue in Orange on July 9, 2007. Evidence was seized including two
computers, electronic data from four additional computers, and
approximately 350 boxes containing approximately 12,000 car transaction
dealer jackets. Each dealer jacket contained several documents including
contracts, credit reports, applications, warranty and insurance
information, and other documentation relevant to the sale or lease of a
vehicle.  The 77 felony charges in this case represent only the most
egregious counts, focusing on 31 fraudulent transactions and
representing a small percentage of the large volume of evidence.



THE CONSPIRACY

At the time of the crime, Urbano was a minority share owner and general
manager of Douglas Nissan responsible for day-to-day operations. Corral,
DeRosier, and Abdellatif were desk managers who supervised dealership
sales staff, secured documentation and financing for vehicle sales, and
signed off on all car sale deals.



Between February 2005 and June 2007, the defendants are accused of
participating in an elaborate ongoing conspiracy to sell used cars at
prices above their value to drive up the cost of monthly payments by the
customer. They are accused of participating in illegal business
practices by submitting false loan information to defraud lenders and
defrauding vulnerable customers by securing unaffordable loans in the
customer's name.



When making a lending decision related to the purchase of an automobile,
banks rely on Kelley Blue Book to determine the value of a vehicle. In
order to justify high loan values for cars on their Douglas Nissan lot,
the defendants are accused of falsifying electronic Kelley Blue Book
records by overstating the value of certain vehicles and falsifying
features of the car. They are accused of defrauding the banks out of an
estimated $911,500 in financing through the submission of the falsified
records. Eight known banks and lending institutions were defrauded in
the scheme. Bank of America, who had received dozens of identity theft
affidavits from consumers, had stopped conducting business with Douglas
Nissan in June 2007 because of the high number of fraudulent vehicle
loan packages from the dealership. The other seven banks and
institutions included Americredit Financial Services, Capital One Auto
Finance, Nissan Motor Acceptance Corporation, NuVision Federal Credit
Union, Wachovia Financial Services, Wells Fargo Bank, and Wescom Credit
Union.



In addition to the banks, the increased loan also victimized customers. 
Urbano, Corral, DeRosier, and Abdellatif are accused of primarily
targeting Spanish speaking customers who did not have proper
identification or understand the process of buying a vehicle. They are
accused of obtaining or creating false identities and assigning the
identities to customers without their knowledge in order to qualify for
higher loans. They are accused of creating fake customer pay-stubs to
support the falsified claim of higher income. The defendants are accused
of encouraging victims to sign loan and purchase documents that had not
been completed, and later filling in the documents with information
that overstated the victims' loan payment abilities.



The defendants are accused of intentionally overstating the income of
customers without the customer's knowledge in order to qualify the
victim for a higher loan. In many cases the victims could not afford the
payment on the higher loans and lost their cars. They are accused of
“loan packing,” or having customers purchase extra insurance and
warranty coverage by deceiving them about the amount charged for add-on
items.



Victims also included non-customers, whose identities had been stolen
and used to purchase cars. This resulted in victims with loans and
vehicles in their names that they did not know about and to which they
did not consent. In some cases, they are accused of misleading victims
into believing they were acting as a reference for another customer, and
instead using that victim as a co-signer without the victim's
knowledge. These victims were left with the responsibility of the high
loan if the original customer defaulted on the payments. 



In addition to the conspiracy, Corral is also charged with perjury for
using a fake social security number on her application for a sales
license, which is required in order to sell cars.



Senior Deputy District Attorney Doug Brannan of the Major Fraud Unit is prosecuting this case.