Two Accused of Rolling Back Odometers on Used Cars : Crime: Laguna Niguel men face 22 felony counts in the resale of late-model vehicles with falsified mileage at their dealerships. One is booked and the other is being sought.

Felony charges were filed against two Laguna Niguel men accused of rolling back odometers on late-model cars and reselling the vehicles, authorities said.

Farzad Yaganeh and Farshad Sadeghi were charged Monday with 22 counts of conspiracy, perjury, grand theft and submitting false documents to the Department of Motor Vehicles, according to Orange County Dist. Atty. Michael R. Capizzi.

Yaganeh was arrested at his home and later released after posting of $100,000 bond and surrendering his passport.

Authorities were looking for Sadeghi, who is Yaganeh’s brother-in-law. The men had operated businesses next door to each other and lived in the same house at one point, investigators said.

The charges filed Monday involved eight to 10 Jeep Cherokees, Ford Explorers and Toyota 4Runners sold at two dealerships, Foreign Motors and Prestige Imports, both in the 22900 block of La Cadena Drive in Laguna Hills, according to Deputy Dist. Atty. Bob Gannon, who supervises the major and insurance fraud units.

“We have reason to believe that upward of 25 to 30 other vehicles may have been involved,” Gannon said. The scheme “came to light as result of discrepancies in documents submitted to Department of Motor Vehicles.”

The dealers would buy used cars from the East Coast and Texas that were 2 to 4 years old with high mileage and transport them to their businesses in Laguna Hills, where they allegedly rolled back the odometers, sometimes to half of the original numbers, Deputy Dist. Atty. Cheryl Mercer said. For example, one car that had 131,000 miles was rolled back to 63,000, she said.

“The process takes minutes,” Mercer said.

The cars would be taken to the DMV for a new title that reflected the lower mileages and sold at auctions, for prices between $2,000 and $5,000 higher than what they are worth, she said.

“You can see that people who buy the cars would have more problems with them than they should,” Mercer said.

Detectives believe that the men have been in business for at least two years. Since the investigation began in April, 1994, one of the men, Sadeghi, shut down his business. Foreign Motors went into business in 1985 and Prestige Imports was established in 1992, the same year as the first documented rollback case, DMV Investigator Rande King said.

King said rolled-back odometers cost consumers about $8 billion a year nationwide, according to the federal National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.

Anyone who suspects that they may have bought one of these vehicles or has information about Sadeghi is asked to contact King at (714) 476-9261.