When buying a classic car from an auto dealer, there is a lot to worry about. Is the vehicle going to be a money pit? Do all the numbers match? Am I getting a fair deal with regards to financing? All fair questions to be sure, but if you dealt with Daniel Lussier of Auto Image Motor Cars you also have to worry about whether or not the car was his to sell in the first place.
Lussier plead guilty to stealing cars and selling them as if they were his, netting Lussier 18 months in prison, 10 years probation and restitution for his victims. That restitution check could be huge, too, as authorities claim Lussier bilked his clients and investors out of $800,000. Felix Yukhtman was one of over a dozen victims who trusted Lussier to sell a vehicle for them. Yukhtman handed over the keys to his 1964 Corvette but after the sale was finalized he said, "We didn't have the money, we didn't have the car, we had no idea we would ever see any money out of this car."
In one particularly inflammatory claim, a classic car owner reportedly said that he brought in his vehicle for a detailing and Lussier sold the vehicle. NBC says that Lussier called those claims untrue. Under the terms of the plea deal, Lessier has to pay tens of thousands of dollars in restitution or risk going back to jail for up to 15 years.
[Source: NBC | Image: Lee County Sheriff's Office]
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