(AP Photo/Land Rover)
PHOENIX — A Scottsdale used car dealer was arrested Wednesday on allegations of running fraudulent schemes and practices.
Farhad Kankash, owner of Onyx Motorsports in Tempe, was arrested on 14 felony counts for theft and fraudulent schemes, according to the Arizona Department of Transportation.
He is accused of cheating costumers and lenders out of hundreds of thousands of dollars.
Kankash allegedly failed to provide titles to customers, failed to pay off liens on some trade-ins and obtained multiple loans for the same vehicle.
On one occasion, he obtained $60,000 loans from two different companies for a 2014 Land Rover and utilized trade-in vehicles that he did not own as collateral.
In another incident, a customer purchased a 2014 Bentley, but then returned it. Kankash did not return the money, obtained another $60,000 loan for the vehicle, and then sold the car to a different local dealership, according to ADOT. He allegedly received $200,000 from the three transactions.
There were occasions in which Kankash was accused of not paying off the liens of trade-in vehicles, leaving customers with two car payments.
He was arrested by detectives with the Arizona Department of Transportation Office of Inspector General and booked into Maricopa County Sheriff’s Fourth Avenue Jail.