San Jose Men Plead Guilty to Used Car Scam On Craigslist
SAN FRANCISCO (CBS SF/BCN) -- Weeks after their partner plead guilty, two more San Jose men pleaded guilty in federal court Tuesday in San Francisco to using an odometer rollback scheme to defraud people who bought cars from them advertised on Craigslist.
Ramil Heydarov and Orkhan Aliyev pleaded guilty to wire fraud conspiracy, two weeks after a guilty plea from co-conspirator Seymur Khalilov, according to a news release from Acting United States Attorney Stephanie M. Hinds, Homeland Security Investigations Special Agent in Charge Tatum King and Federal Bureau of Investigation Special Agent in Charge Craig D. Fair.
In their plea agreements, the defendants -- Khalilov, 32, Heydarov, 31, and Aliyev, 32 -- admitted that from at least October 2017 through December 2020, they conspired to purchase high-mileage vehicles, roll back the odometers and falsify documentation to make the vehicles appear newer to increase their sales value.
Their plea agreements included admissions that they had sold at least 78 vehicles with rolled back odometer readings, resulting in a total loss to the victims of greater than $550,000, prosecutors said.
Their agreements stipulate they must pay restitution: between $360,000 and $534,072 for Khalilov, to be determined by the court; $379,235 for Heydarov; and $196,578 for Aliyev.
Senior U.S. District Judge Susan Illston will sentence the men on Feb. 4, 2022. In addition to restitution, the conspiracy charge carries a maximum statutory prison term of up to 20 years and a $250,000 fine.
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