Conspiring San Jose Fraudsters Sentenced To Prison In Automobile Resale Scheme | USAO-NDCA

SAN FRANCISCO – Seymur Khalilov, Ramil Heydarov, and Orkhan Aliyev all had been sentenced now to 24 months, 20 months, and 20 months in custody, respectively, for their roles in a conspiracy to commit wire fraud, introduced United States Attorney Stephanie M. Hinds, Homeland Protection Investigations Special Agent in Demand Tatum King, and Federal Bureau of Investigation Specific Agent in Demand Craig D. Reasonable.  The sentences were being handed down by the Hon. Susan Illston, United States District Choose.

The defendants pleaded guilty to the cost in October 2021.  In accordance to the plea agreements, concerning 2016 and May 2021, Khalilov, 32 Heydarov, 31 and Aliyev, 32, all of San Jose, conspired to purchase superior-mileage cars, roll back again the odometers, and falsify documentation to make the vehicles appear more recent.  The co-conspirators then allegedly sold the motor vehicles on Craigslist at major earnings.  The defendants admitted they fraudulently marketed at minimum 78 cars in this way for a overall of at the very least $550,000. 

Choose Illston sentenced the defendants as follows:

Choose Illston has not however scheduled a date for a hearing to ascertain Khalilov’s restitution.  In addition, Choose Illston ordered that victims of the scheme have a person 12 months from the date of judgment to occur ahead to find restitution any forfeited monies remaining immediately after that time period will be forfeited to the United States. 

In accordance to the defendants’ plea agreements, from at least Oct 2017 as a result of December 2020, Khalilov, Heydarov, and Aliyev conspired to order superior-mileage automobiles, roll again the odometers, and falsify documentation to make the cars look more recent.  Especially, the co-conspirators altered the odometers of several motor vehicles and altered registrations and titles, among the other products, to fraudulently minimize the mileage readings of the automobiles and, therefore, improve their income worth. 

The government’s sentencing memorandum gives supplemental facts of the scheme.  For example, the memorandum provides an example of how Khalilov altered an odometer on a car or truck so that the mileage was  lessened from 35,000 to 35 miles.  The co-conspirators also admitted they posted adverts of the automobiles on Craigslist to promote the automobiles to victims who ended up not aware of the fraudulent alterations. Also, the defendants admitted making use of doctored driver’s licenses containing their photograph but the names of prior automobile owners to facilitate the sale of these automobiles. Evidence in the situation demonstrated Aliyev possessed various driver’s licenses with the identical photograph but different people’s names.  The co-conspirators each and every acknowledged that the target of the conspiracy was to sell cars to victims for an enhanced price dependent on the fraudulent odometer readings. According to the plea agreements, the co-conspirators bought at least 78 autos with rolled back again odometer readings, resulting in a full loss to the victims of in between $550,000 and $1 million.

All 3 defendants were billed in a solitary felony grievance filed on May well 3, 2021, and every single was charged with one rely of conspiracy to dedicate wire fraud, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 1349. 

They each pleaded guilty to the cost.

The Countrywide Highway Targeted visitors Basic safety Administration (NHTSA) estimates that odometer fraud in the United States benefits in shopper losses of extra than $1 billion per year. When acquiring a auto, Homeland Safety Investigations endorses that men and women protect them selves by taking the following techniques:

 • Purchase your own motor vehicle-background report prior to obtaining a car and assess the mileage on the report to the marketed mileage.
 • Check the seller’s actual physical identification card or driver license and make certain it matches the facts on the vehicle’s pink slip.
 • Avoid using hard cash, when possible. Cashier’s checks and other payment procedures might be safer and less difficult to track.
 • Conduct transactions at general public locations exactly where there are cameras and other people all around.
 • If a deal would seem as well superior to be true, it possibly is.
 • Individuals with details relating to odometer tampering must connect with NHTSA’s odometer fraud hotline at (800) 424-9393 or (202) 366-4761.

Assistant U.S. Lawyers Ankur Shingal, Leif Dautch, and Christopher Kaltsas are prosecuting the scenario with the guidance of Marina Ponomarchuk and Soana Katoa.  The prosecution is the final result of an investigation by Homeland Stability Investigations and the Federal Bureau of Investigation with support from the California Office of Motor Motor vehicles Investigations Division in Vallejo, the San Ramon Police Office, and the Nationwide Highway Transportation Safety Administration Office of Odometer Fraud Investigations.