A 35-year-old Strathroy-Caradoc man is accused of defrauding a local car dealership out of nearly $140,000.
Strathroy-Caradoc police launched an investigation into the allegations after being contacted by the dealership last December. Officers with the criminal investigation division determined a man had bought two vehicles from the dealership, trading in two other vehicles he owned to defray the cost.
The trade-in vehicles still had money owing on them and that was added to the purchase price of the new vehicles, police said.
However, the unnamed dealership never received any payment for the new vehicles.
Police later found the vehicles at a London dealership, where the man is said to have traded them in for two other new vehicles.
The scheme cost the Strathroy dealership $138,663.
As a result of the investigation, a 35-year-old Strathroy-Caradoc man has been arrested and charged with two counts each of fraud over $5,000 and obtaining by false pretence over $5,000.
