Nevada Attorney General Adam Paul Laxalt announced that Robert Milk, 37, Curtis Acree, 53, Roosevelt Warren, 42, and Kenneth Johnson, 65, were indicted by the Clark County Grand Jury on 21 felony charges for operating a false tow scam operation out of Las Vegas.
The defendants are charged with offering false document for filing or record, obtaining money or property under false pretenses, possession of stolen vehicle, multiple transactions involving fraud or deceit and racketeering.
Milk was also indicted for seven additional felony counts. Milk is also charged with possession of personal identifying information to establish false status or identity, possession of controlled substance with intent to sell and perjury.
All are felony offenses. The alleged scam occurred between July 2013 and January 2015.
According to the indictment, the four men filed false documents with the DMV that claimed lienholders had been notified of vehicle tows, and they then sold the vehicles at auction. The indictment alleges that the lienholders never received any notice of the tow or subsequent auction by the tow company, thereby depriving them of thousands of dollars per vehicle. Through the use of multiple corporate entities and bank accounts, the defendants are alleged to have collected at least $2 million through these auctions.
Investigators uncovered lien sale packets supposedly sent to lienholders. By filing these packets with the DMV, the defendants were able to fraudulently obtain title to the vehicles, which they then kept or sold at auction for a profit. A search warrant also uncovered several Nevada identification cards later discovered to be false; a vehicle previously reported stolen; and a number of morphine pills packaged for sale.
This case was investigated and is being prosecuted by the Attorney General’s Fraud Unit.
To file a complaint about someone suspected of committing a fraud, click here.
