Bellagio Motors - Fred Ebadat

Ahhhh peter, you sound like my kinda guy.

 

I consigned my Cayenne Turbo S to Fred in late Dec. 2011 for $132k, and I've been calling for the past 2 days to check on the status...no answers. I started gettting worried, so I drove up there this morning. Facility is shut down, ALL the cars are gone. Went to the police dept. in Costa Mesa....and they already knew the entire story. Met up with the detective that is handling this case, and the FBI is involved.

Anyone know what steps I should take? Know of any good attorneys that can handle this? I would appreciate any input

 

Jeeezus. This is afwul. What is the bet that he 'sold' your car... took the money, and hasn't provided the buyer with the title?

I would report the car stolen. I would report him as the suspected theif.

I would file a claim with your insurance company.


I would get a lawyer in the area, talk with the dmv detectives, the fbi, the local police, etc..

This guy is an absolute P.O.S.!!!

I really hope those of you with better connections in costa mesa handle this 'properly'. Clearly, Farhad 'Fred' isn't planning on doing anything right and is trying to scam around any way he can.

 

Yea, this really sucks. I can't believe it. Thanks for your input....I'm doing all that you mentioned below. I'll keep everyone updated with the progress.. Good luck to all of those that are involved.

 

can you 1099 fred for the cash ? IRS doesn't give a hoot about bankruptcy.

 

I think he wants his money back rather than donating 1/3 of it to the IRS.

-mick

 

he wouldn't be giving anything to the IRS. he'd be saving a 1/3 (or his marginal rate) and creating a tax nightmare for fred.

 

Check with the local DMV and see if a new title has been issued for your vehicle in another persons name, most of these guys are pretty slick with paperwork, and if he had you sign over a power of attorney over the sale of your car when he had you sign the consignment forms, then he probably already recieved a valid title for your vehicle, and reporting it stolen won't matter. I know here in Ny if he has sold the vehicle to a consumer, they will not take the car from the paying customer, they will tell you to file a civil suit against him.

In my line of work I come accross these scams alot ,Just a little advice, an airplane ticket is cheap insurance, fly out to where you are buying a vehicle from and deal face to face. Wire transfers are almost instant, Make your deal, transfer the funds and title in person and either drive the car home or have it shipped and fly back home.

 

The issuance of a 1099 doesn't turn it into a automatic tax deduction. I was half joking / half serious in that if you did this all that might happen is that the IRS now wants 1/3 of this from the receipient - thus my IRS 1/3 "donation".

-mick

 

This story has Auto Gallery of Seattle written all over it...ugh. Hoping for positive outcome but no one wins in situations like this. Makes it difficult for everyone...and right after it seemed trust was restored in the exotic car business again. From Tyson at Auto Gallery, Vic at LOC and now this. Incredible and extremely unfortunate. Best of luck to everyone involved.

 

true. bankruptcy might expunge his debt to him... not to the IRS. sometimes you have to extract your pound of flesh in anyway possible.

 

Wow. Just wow.

 

don't know what the U.S. is, but in England they would force the house the scammer is living in and dish out the cash back to the victims.

then he would of course be put in jail and the house go out for auction.

 

Do it. Post ALL of it.

I can tell you all from experience that posting in a forum about someone isn't scary at all to the person, until you start posting the facts. Then they usually start to squirm a little.

 

Shouldn't this Scumbag be in Jail, really what is the difference between him and a Thief?

 

It's a possibility, if he took more than one deposit on the same car then that would be illegal intent to defraud and criminal, the OP needs to talk to his attorney not the scumbags attorney. I'm sure if the OP makes a webpage and meta tag keywords it with the name of this scumbag who stole from him lots of people will find it on the internet and will contact the OP, who knows there might be 4 other people out there who he kept the deposit for on the same lambo.

 

Yes. I consigned my BMW M6 with them in August '11. I have a complete set of email exchanges with them, through January '12, where they state that the car is showing and buyers are under consideration. As a result of these posts, I just found out that they actually had sold my car to a buyer in TX on September 12, 2011 and transferred it to him in October. They were supposed inform me and to pay me and my lien holder within 18 days of the sale. Ultimately, just as my contract with them expired in December, they had "a final buyer on the line." Oddly, they continued to show my car for sale (and still do) on their web site. Fred told me that was a "marketing tactic."
In early January '12, they finally sent a check to my bank to pay the lien. However, it was returned a week later for insufficient funds.
Now,
- My car is in Texas
- I am still responsible for the lien against it
- My insurance will not cover the loss because I consigned it and they were fraudulent.
- The police do not consider it to be stolen although they are building a case for the DA for other criminal accounts.
- The new "owner" in TX cannot get title to the car until my lien is satisfied.

Fred, you are just incredible!

 

I consigned my 2008 BMW M6 with these guys in August, 2011. Here is the rest of the story.

- Bellagio Motors sold my car on September 12, 2011 to a buyer in Texas.
- Bellagio Motors delivered the vehicle to the buyer on or around October 1, 2011 in the state of Texas.
- The buyer does not have title to the car and cannot obtain title until my lien is paid.
- Bellagio Motors, within 18 days of the execution of the contract with the buyer, was to have paid the outstanding balance of my lien and provide a check to me in an amount equal to the difference between the amount of the the lien and an agreed upon minimum price. I have not received any payments from Bellagio Motors or any other party.
- Bellagio Motors did not inform me, ever, that the car had been sold.
- In fact, Bellagio Motors, as late as December, 2011 made material misrepresentations to me well after the car had been sold, that it had not been sold and that they were still trying to find a qualified buyer. My car remained listed for sale on their website as of January 22, 2012, at least.
- Bellagio Motors ultimately sent a check to the lien-holder on or around January 11, 2012 and that check was returned for insufficient funds on January 17, 2011.
- I am currently not in possession of my car, there is a lien against my car in the amount and the car title cannot be delivered to the person who believes he purchased it.

 

BINGO! It's a felony to sell a car without a title and/or a lien that has not been paid off. You guys need to make a webpage and see who else is out there that got scammed, I'm sure all of you could now put him behind bars for 10 years providing he does not leave the country first.

 

The good news is that the title is still in your name & you know where the car is. I would push for the return of your car. The money isn't coming. The title still is in your name, the car should be impounded at the least until it's cleared up, this is more than a civil matter. Do you still have a key? I would check on this legally, but if you did (probably could get a new one with the vin #?) I would go get it. The buyer is probably driving it, hire a pi to find it. What a mess, good luck.

 

I'm sure this guy will be skipping town pretty soon. Someone needs to put the serious squeeze on him and fast if they hope to ever see their money again. I'd lay odds they guy's pocketed a few bucks in anticipation of flying the coop. A quick search and it looks like he's living in Huntington Beach, bunch of aliases with lots of relatives there too.

Here's a few of the aliases:

F Ebadat
Fred Ebadat
Farhad Ebadat
Farhad Abadt
Farhad Ebadt
Farhad Evadat

 

anybody have freds attorney's phone number and freds home address?

 

Also appears that he is involved with another business in Huntington Beach called:

European Touch
http://www.europeantouchusa.com/v2/index.php

And they have a stunning BBB review.... NOT!
http://www.la.bbb.org/business-reviews/Used-Car-Dealers/European-Touch-in-Huntington-Beach-CA-100063758

Or, was this business just renamed to Bellagio Motors to start over?

 

I agree. This look bigger and bigger everyday. A web site should be started to gather all the victims of that scam. How can a car be sold and delivered without a title by a "professional" shop ??????? More how can a buyer take delivery and pay for a cr WITHOUT a title??? That is plain stupid unless some forgery went on