SALT LAKE CITY, Utah (ABC 4 News) - The lot-boy at a local car dealer allegedly stole 2-dozen automobiles and then sold them to his family and friends for a fraction of their worth.
Investigators said that 25-year old Tony Thomas Taylor worked for MCS Auto in Salt Lake City for 5-years. The owner said he was a “good employee.”
But the owner did not know about a scam that cost him more than a $100,000. Mark Marine buys used cars, repairs them and then sells them on his lot at 76 W. 2100 South. According to investigators with the Utah Motor Vehicle Enforcement Division, one of his employees, Tony Taylor, started stealing his cars about 6 months ago and then selling them to friends and family. "In conjunction with that he would steal the title from the dealership and delete the records of the computer,” said UMVED spokesman Charlie Roberts.
As a lot-boy Marine said that Taylor inspected his cars and then sent them out for needed repairs. But investigators claim the cars never made it to the repair shops. Instead they claim Taylor sold them and kept the money. "Dirt cheap, less than a thousand dollars in most cases,” Roberts said.
Lot owner Mark Marine declined to talk on camera because he said the people who bought the $15,000 to $20,000 dollar cars for between $700 and $1,000 blame him and have even made threats because they don't want to give the cars back. But investigators said they will give the cars back. “They are victims to some degree, the people who bought the cars, they lost the money that they purchased the cars." "But the dealership will get the cars back?" "Yes, and the titles."
Taylor got caught when the owner became suspicious about unpaid invoices to local repair shops and discovered the missing cars when he did an audit. Marine said he doesn't think he will be able to forgive Taylor until he finds out exactly how many cars were stolen, and why an employee that he trusted would do something like this. Thomas is being held in the salt lake county jail with no bond. He could face charges of theft by deception and possession of stolen property.
