Escondido

Two former salesmen at an Escondido car dealership and an accountant were charged Friday with conspiring to fabricate loan records of customers with poor credit ratings so they could qualify for bank loans.

Steven J. Moran of Escondido, Gerald M. Diesel of El Cajon and the self-employed accountant, John Z. Hurlbert of Rancho Penasquitos, are scheduled to be arraigned on a seven-count indictment Tuesday before a federal magistrate.

Moran and Diesel, who worked at Hyundai of Escondido, allegedly prepared loan applications for three car buyers last October that listed false income, Social Security numbers and homeowner information, Assistant U.S. Atty. Judith S. Feigin said.

The company was not implicated, and both salesmen were fired, she said.

Hurlbert allegedly prepared false tax returns to support the applications, two of which were submitted to Bank of America and the other to Union Bank.

The FBI caught the scam at its inception after a tip from the third prospective buyer, so no money was lost because the loans were recalled and the cars returned to the dealer, Feigin said.

“Someone who had a poor credit rating was told that they would make up a new loan record for him, and he was so appalled that he called the FBI, which sent an undercover agent back to the dealership with him,” she said.

Each defendant faces a single count of conspiracy. Moran also faces three counts of attempting to defraud a bank and three counts of fraudulent use of a Social Security number, while Hurlbert faces two counts of each. Diesel also is charged with one count of trying to defraud a bank.