3 Essex County Residents Indicted For Alleged Car Loan Scheme

ESSEX COUNTY, NJ — A trio of Essex County residents were among five individuals to be indicted earlier this week on first-degree charges of conspiracy and money laundering for an alleged car loan scheme, authorities announced Thursday.

According to the New Jersey Office of the Attorney General, the five New Jersey residents are accused of engaging in various theft schemes in which they obtained car loans and cars by fraud and resold the vehicles after fraudulently removing liens from the vehicle titles.

They face first-degree charges because the schemes allegedly involved transactions involving stolen loan proceeds and stolen vehicles with a total value of well over half a million dollars, prosecutors stated.

On Monday, a state grand jury indicted the following people on charges of conspiracy (1st degree), money laundering (1st degree), identity theft (2nd degree), theft by deception (four counts 2nd degree, one count 3rd degree), tampering with public records (3rd degree), and forgery (4th degree):

• David L. Dunaway, Jr., 42, of Irvington
• Paige E. Hunt, 26, of Bloomfield
• James Lamont Tutt, 43, of Somerset
• David Terry, 34, of Newark
• Shanel Terry, 35, of Somerset

Dunaway faces an additional count of third-degree theft by deception, prosecutors said.

According to prosecutors’ allegations:

“The charges are the result of an investigation by the Division of Criminal Justice Specialized Crimes Bureau. The investigation began with a referral from the New Jersey Motor Vehicle Commission (MVC) Division of Security, Investigations and Internal Audit. The investigation revealed that the five defendants allegedly purchased or had others purchase vehicles on credit. They then allegedly forged letters purporting to be from the creditor stating that the loan had been satisfied, and used those letters to obtain new titles from the MVC without liens. The vehicles were subsequently sold without disclosing the liens. The alleged criminal conduct occurred between June 2012 and March 2016 and involved at least 25 vehicles.”

Prosecutors continued:

“The defendants allegedly used three methods to purchase vehicles: (1) A member of the conspiracy – either Dunaway, Hunt or David Terry – allegedly purchased the vehicle with a car loan that was fraudulently obtained using false employment and salary information, resulting in theft of the loan amount. (2) The defendants allegedly used a stolen identity to obtain a car loan and purchase the vehicle, resulting in theft of the loan amount. (3) Several innocent women were allegedly duped by Dunaway into purchasing vehicles on credit in their own names, with an agreement that Dunaway – who feigned romantic interest in the women – would make the loan payments. The women were then deceived into believing Dunaway had paid off the loans, leading them to apply for and obtain duplicate vehicle titles without liens. Convinced the vehicles were entirely paid for by Dunaway, the women either signed the vehicle over to one of the defendants or the vehicle was sold with the proceeds going to one of the defendants. In this scenario, the vehicle was effectively stolen from the woman, who remained responsible for the loan. A number of the vehicles were purchased from a now-defunct car dealership in Rahway that employed Tutt as a salesman.”

Prosecutors added:

“The indictment charges three additional defendants with third-degree crimes. Caprice L. Simmons, 27, of Rahway, and Rahmeen A. Reason, 30, of Newark, allegedly provided false employment and income information to obtain a loan to purchase a 2013 BMW 650 from Tutt at the dealership where he worked. After the couple had trouble making the loan payments, they allegedly assisted Tutt in submitting false documents to the MVC to remove the lien, so Tutt could sell the car again. Simmons and Reason face third-degree charges of theft by deception and tampering with public records.”

Prosecutors also stated:

“Robert Rivera, 22, of Newark, is charged with third-degree theft by deception. Dunaway allegedly had one of the women he deceived in connection with car purchases sign the vehicle over to Rivera. Dunaway and Rivera then allegedly sold the vehicle without disclosing that there was a lien on it.”

Send correction requests to eric.kiefer@patch.com

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