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Justin Williams, 42, of Rocky Hill, pleaded guilty on Friday, Nov. 20, to taking part in the scheme at Car Nation in Middletown, said John H. Durham, U.S. Attorney for the District of Connecticut.
According to court documents and statements made in court, Williams worked as a salesman and de facto general manager at Car Nation, sometimes known as Middletown Motorcars, which was owned and operated by George Hajati.
In connection with automobile loan applications for multiple borrowers, Williams, Hajati, and others submitted documents and statements to victim lenders that falsely represented the borrower’s employment, salary, sources of income, and amount of down payment, the documents showed.
The false documents included fictitious or altered borrower pay stubs and income verification letters purportedly from the Social Security Administration.
Williams submitted loan applications indicating that borrowers made salaries they did not make, worked at jobs they did not work, received income from the Social Security Administration they did not receive and made down payments they did not make.
In some instances, the borrower was not aware of and did not authorize, Williams’ use of his or her personal identifying information to obtain automobile loans in these ways.
Between approximately November 2015 and June 2016, Williams defrauded lenders of $300,037.02 through this scheme, the U.S. Attorney's Office said.
Williams was arrested on a criminal complaint on January 16, 2020.
Williams was previously convicted of federal fraud charges related to a Hartford-area scheme to defraud mortgage lenders, and he was on federal supervised release at the time of the auto loan fraud.
At sentencing, which is not scheduled, Williams faces a maximum term of imprisonment of 30 years.
Williams has been released on a $100,000 bond since his arrest.
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