N. Hollywood Car Dealer Accused of Theft
A North Hollywood used car dealer who allegedly bought cars with checks written against closed or depleted bank accounts and then sold them to unwitting customers for cash has been charged with grand theft and perjury.
Joseph Studman, 58, who has not yet been arrested, faces eight counts of grand theft and one count of perjury in the alleged scam, Deputy Dist. Atty. Dan Bershin said.
According to court records, Studman purchased trade-in cars from other dealerships at wholesale prices, using bad checks and bank drafts. Then he allegedly put the cars up for sale at Alfa Auto Sales at 6309 Lankershim Blvd. in North Hollywood, where customers paid cash for them.
Customers’ Problems
When the customers requested ownership documents for the cars, Studman would tell them that the original dealerships had to provide the paper work, Bershin said. Because Studman never held legal title to the vehicles before selling them, Bershin said, the cash customers were left in the lurch when they tried to register their new cars or when the dealers who actually owned the vehicles came looking for their property.
Department of Motor Vehicle investigators declined to discuss the case until Studman, whose address was not disclosed, could be arrested. Both telephone numbers for Alfa Auto Sales have been disconnected.
Bershin said investigators indicated there may have been as many as 65 sales, but that only eight of the more recent cases in 1984, involving about $35,000 in sales, would be prosecuted. That is because maximum-sentencing laws for consecutive, nonviolent felonies would preclude giving more time in prison for conviction on additional counts.
All the cases, however, are to be presented at a DMV administrative hearing to decide whether to revoke Studman’s sales license, Bershin said.
“From what I can tell he was getting as much as twice in cash what he was supposed to have originally purchased the cars for,” Bershin said. In one case, Studman used an insufficient funds check for $3,160 to buy a 1976 BMW that he sold for $6,738, Bershin said.
