Bloomfield Woman Gets 5 Years In Jail For Role In Luxury Car Scam

BLOOMFIELD, NJ — A Bloomfield woman was sentenced to five years in state prison Thursday for her role in a luxury car theft scheme, prosecutors said.

According to the New Jersey Office of the Attorney General, Paige E. Hunt, 27, of Bloomfield, pleaded guilty on June 29 to a charge of second-degree theft by deception contained in an indictment obtained by the Division of Criminal Justice Specialized Crimes Bureau.

Hunt pleaded guilty on Oct. 30 to an additional charge of second-degree insurance fraud contained in a separate indictment obtained by the Office of the Insurance Fraud Prosecutor. A Superior Court judge sentenced her to five years in prison on each charge, with the two sentences to run concurrently, prosecutors said.

According to prosecutors:

“Hunt was one of six defendants convicted of charges contained in a 2017 indictment obtained by the Division of Criminal Justice Specialized Crimes Bureau. That 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 defendants purchased or had others purchase luxury used cars on credit. They then forged letters purporting to be from the creditor stating that the loan had been satisfied, using those letters to obtain clean titles from the MVC. The vehicles were subsequently sold without disclosing the liens. Between 2012 and 2016, the defendants stole at least 25 luxury vehicles. A leader of the scheme, David L. Dunaway Jr., 43, of Irvington, N.J., pleaded guilty to second-degree theft by deception and was sentenced on Sept. 7 to nine years in state prison.”

Prosecutors added:

“In the case filed by the Office of the Insurance Fraud Prosecutor (OIFP), Hunt pleaded guilty to fraudulently obtaining insurance identification cards as part of the scheme to steal vehicles. She was charged with fraudulently obtaining at least nine auto insurance identification cards to provide proof of insurance when purchasing high-end used vehicles from dealerships by fraud. Hunt was able to drive off with at least three vehicles for which no down payment was required at the time of purchase and for which no subsequent payments were ever made. Between June 2016 and April 2017, Hunt fraudulently obtained at least nine auto insurance policies totaling more than $21,605 for coverage on late-model luxury used vehicles that included a Lexus SUV, two Honda Pilot Touring SUVs, a Mercedes Benz SUV, and five Mercedes Benz sedans.”

“Hunt was part of a prolific group of con artists who stole loan proceeds and cars worth well over half a million dollars,” Attorney General Gurbir Grewal said. “As part of her role in the scheme, she used fictitious bank account information to deceive insurers into issuing coverage for the stolen vehicles. This prison sentence sends a message that we will aggressively prosecute white collar crime and insurance fraud, which ultimately raise costs for average consumers and rate-payers.”

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