Man Swaps Bad Checks for Cars He Then Sells

Police in Orange and Los Angeles counties are searching for a dapper man in his 60s who allegedly printed his own bogus cashier’s checks, bought three Mercedes-Benz 280-SL cars for $14,000 to $18,000 with the fake checks and then resold the autos for real money to unsuspecting customers, police said Thursday.

The three victims who accepted the man’s checks in return for their cars and their pink slips described him as the “Newport Beach type”--with wavy, gray-black hair, neatly trimmed mustache, fit and trim and wearing quality clothes, said Huntington Beach Police Detective Dennis Branch.

The man signed his home-made checks “J. Williams,” and the three victims accepted the script with no questions and asked “Williams” for no identification, Branch said.

The three cars were all advertised in newspaper classified ad sections. “Williams” bought his first, a 1969 model, from a Huntington Beach man for $14,000 last March 3. He bought his second, a 1976 model, last March 22 from a Malibu man for $18,000. Both cars have been located by police and are in the possession of the people who bought them. The man bought the third car, a 1970 model, from an Orange man for $16,000 on May 2. It has not been located.

The Los Angeles Sheriff’s Department, the Orange Police Department and the Huntington Beach Police Department are investigating.