Be careful who you do business with…
If you’re stuck in a car lease you can’t afford or just don’t want anymore, be careful about hiring someone for help. That’s the lesson at least 128 people learned the hard way when they fell victim to a Los Angeles man’s financial scheme. According to a release from the United States Attorney’s Office Central District of California, Geoffrey Eldridge Hull, 41, plead guilty to one count of wire fraud after his scheme was uncovered.
1967 Shelby GT500 stolen recently in Oklahoma. See it here.
Hull preyed on people across the US who were interested in reassigning their luxury or exotic car lease to a qualified party. It can be tricky finding someone who not only wants to take over your vehicle lease but is able to do so. We can imagine many of these people who believed Hull when he told them he could help were feeling desperate, maybe because a sudden turn of events meant they could no longer afford to keep up on payments.
According to the lease, Hull advertised his business as being able to cover the lease payments by renting out the Lamborghinis, Ferraris, Maseratis, Bentleys, and other high-end cars while finding a qualified individual to take over the remainder of the lease.
In reality, the man handed over little of the car rental money and made few lease payments. Vehicle owners would try to get their car back, which oftentimes were damaged and had exceeded the mileage as spelled out by the lease. When they posted negative reviews of the service, Hull changed the name of the company. Among the names he used were Exotic Lease Transfer, Luxe Lease Transfer, Shift Lease, Veer Lease, Torque Transfer, Haven Transfer, Early Lease, and Open Lease Transfer.
Adding insult to injury, car owners found out their ride had toll and parking violations attached. According to authorities, the total financial damage done by Hull was at least $1,560,321. Hull is facing a maximum of 20 years in federal prison when he’s sentenced on May 26.
Photos via Lamborghini, Maserati, and Bentley
