How not to finance your truck

An alert reader pointed me to an amazing press release, dated yesterday, from the U.S. attorney for Oregon, Billy "Bob" Williams. It tells a tale of an over-the-top alleged con by a guy named David Unitan, who lives in Lake Oswego and does video production.

According to the feds, Unitan stole the identity of one of his former customers, used it to get Covid emergency loans of $295,000 from the federal government, passed the funds through a bank account in Boston, and posing as Danny Cohen, used some of the money to buy a new $77,000 truck at Dick's Mackenzie Ford in Hillsboro.

The authorities allege that Unitan pulled up in a new Tesla sedan, and flashed a fake California driver's license, as part of selling his story to the Ford dealership. The feds took both the truck and the Tesla, which they say was also financed by the government loans, when they arrested Unitan yesterday. He is charged with aggravated identity theft, wire fraud, and money laundering.

It was quite an elaborate swindle, according to the press release, which is here.