DMV Investigators Arrest L.A. Man in Scam Case Involving Rental Cars

Department of Motor Vehicles investigators arrested a 29-year-old man Tuesday whom they believe secured rental cars in Orange County, sold them as private vehicles using counterfeit papers, and then stole them back to return to the rental companies.

Han Wook Kim was arrested at his Los Angeles apartment just after 5 p.m., DMV Investigator Tim A. Landrus said, and was being held at Orange County Jail.

Kim faces three counts of grand theft, four counts of counterfeiting a state seal and two counts of commercial burglary, Landrus said. If convicted on all counts, he could be sentenced to six to eight years in prison.

Landrus said that Kim had a friend rent three vehicles for him, and Kim later sold them for cash--to pay gambling debts he reportedly told buyers--in Stanton, Santa Ana and Westminster. Using duplicated keys, the vehicles were subsequently taken from the street and returned to the rental companies.

Kim also used his parents’ van for a similar sale and theft, Landrus said.