Anyone here ever deal with Enigma motors? (I hope not from the sound of it...)

Dublin car dealer arrested in sales of luxury sports cars

Marisa Lagos, Chronicle Staff Writer
Wednesday, September 24, 2008

(09-24) 20:51 PDT Dublin -- A seven-month investigation into the fraudulent sales of dozens of luxury cars, including Lamborghinis and Porsches, culminated last week with the arrest of two men, Dublin police announced Thursday.

The suspects, a former car dealership owner and a former car salesman, were arrested without incident Sept. 18 on suspicion of nine counts each of felony embezzlement and grand theft. The dealership was Enigma Motors at 5947 Dougherty Road in Dublin.

Dublin police Detective Nick Soares said the owners of high-end cars would consign their vehicles to the dealership to be sold. But when the owner, Shoab Akbarpour, and salesman, Hussain Akbarpour, sold the cars to a new owner, they would keep the cash and leave the buyer without title to the car, which was often still held by the previous owner's lender.

"People who bought the car couldn't get the title because the people who sold the car usually had a lien holder, and the buyers had gotten a loan," Soares said. "In most cases there are four (parties) - two victims, plus two banks."

Dublin police, the Alameda County District Attorney's office and the state Department of Motor Vehicles began investigating the dealership seven months ago, Soares said; it appears the scam started in late 2007. Shoab Akbarpour had already owned the dealership for several years.

The dealership closed in March, after Dublin police served a search warrant for financial statements at the business and the DMV yanked Shoab Akbarpour's vehicle dealer license, Soares said. But they didn't arrest the suspects until September, said Soares, "because it took a long time to prove intent."

Soares said Dublin police probed 12 cases in which the men allegedly sold cars and kept the money, while the DMV investigated another 29.

The victims, Soares said, will likely have to battle out the payment and title issues in civil court.

"Right now it seems like we have people who have title and no car, and people who have a car and no title," he said. "It's messy."

Anyone with information on the case should call police at (925) 833-6670.

E-mail Marisa Lagos at mlagos@sfchronicle.com.


http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/articl...4LPM.DTL&tsp=1

 

geez. I actually checked them out when I was looking for my turbo. Glad I didn't deal w/ them... :P

 

Wow, scary. Glad you didn't get screwed over by them.

In the light of day my Batman inspired E. Nigma subject is way too goofy

 

hahaha. my blood-to-caffeine ratio is running dangerously lean this afternoon. Didn't even notice the play on that Batman movie.

 

Lol thats crazy. 1 of those two guys lives down the street from my moms house. They are always driving something new home (Ferrari, Lambo, Bently) all with Enigma Motors licesnse plates on the back. Messed up for anyone that did business with them. Hope they are able to recop their losses.

 

This is why when purchasing from an non-marque dealer one must ask if the car is on "consignment" or if the selling dealer does "in fact" have the title.

If the car is on consignment ask who the lender is and deal only directly with the lender. Don't give any $ to the seller.

The lender will then extinguish the lien on the title and send the difference if any to the owner, seller, or both.

About 1.5 years ago a person from Indiana purchased a 575 Ferrrai from a Florida reseller. The buyer foolishly transfered all the cash w/o asking any questions. The selling dealer was doing what Enigma did. Took more than 9 months for him to get it straightened out.

Don't be a victim! Ask questions.

 

Agreed.

People hear "dealer" and somehow assign that some leve of trust.... foolish

I spoke with Enigma twice when I was looking. Slimy.

 

I hope karma catches up to those slobs repeatedly while they're incarcerated.

 

I honestly do not believe they originally planned to run their business this way.

I believe the overhead was too great for the few sales, and they next overexpanded to Sacramento and by taking over the repair shop behind their building.

I assume at that point they started using current sales $'s to pay those expenses hoping to catch up later.

We know that did not happen.

They were decent folks at the outset, and I don't wish them bad but then I was not victimizedby them.

This is a not a defense of what they did. I am speaking only from my personal interactions with them when they started.

 

A lesson to be learned I guess.

Hey, too bad they didn't run up $500 Billion, they could have gotten bailed out,...er, rescued.

A

 

I would say with their impending problems that's not now a good choice of words!!!