KAUFMAN COUNTY, Texas — The Kaufman County Clean Air Task Force made an arrest in a months-long title fraud investigation which officials say defrauded the county of nearly $300,000.
KAUFMAN COUNTY, Texas — The Kaufman County Clean Air Task Force made an arrest in a months-long title fraud investigation which officials say defrauded the county of nearly $300,000.
The task force, led by the Kaufman County Precinct 2 Constable’s Office, began investigating the title fraud scheme in January 2016 and made its first arrest, of what is expected to be many in the case, yesterday, according to Precinct 2 Constable Jason Johnson.
Johnson says the arrest marks the largest bust by the task force since its inception in 2013.
Earlier this year, over the course of a month, OMG Autos, which is registered to 207 North Blanche Street in Terrell, Texas, processed approximately 500 titles through Kaufman County, according to Johnson who said those titles included wrecked, salvaged, and stolen vehicles.
The vehicles obtained, often fraudulently, new titles for which they were sold, according to Johnson.
Johnson says the sale price on the title, for which taxes were due to the county, were often not the same as the vehicle was actually sold for which resulted in significantly lower taxes being paid to the county.
In many instances, titles were listed as being sold for approximately $2-300 dollars when, in fact, they were sold for several thousand dollars, investigators learned through OMG Autos’ customers.
Investigators were preparing to interview 20-year-old Mackenzie Nelson of Garland, Texas, who is a registered agent of OMG Autos, at the Kaufman County Law Enforcement Center in Kaufman, Texas, when she arrived in a stolen Porsche Cayenne — which was reported stolen out of Carrollton, Texas, but was now bearing new dealer license plates.
Nelson was arrested and charged with unauthorized use of a motor vehicle and is being held in the Kaufman County Jail on a $10,000 bond.
Investigators executed a search warrant at Nelson’s Garland, Texas, residence where several other vehicles, as well as another stolen vehicle, were located. The building in Terrell where the business is registered is a vacant building, according to Johnson.
Nelson also faces charges for fraud, possession of stolen property, and tampering with government records, according to Johnson.
Partial funding for the task force is provided through a portion of the inspection fees paid by vehicle owners at the time of inspection.
The task force is also charged with enforcing and preventing fraudulent emission and inspection tests.
Johnson says the task force does spot inspections across the county to prevent “clean scans” which is the process by which a “clean,” passable vehicle is run in place of a vehicle unable to pass inspection.
“Companies and individuals are coming in to Kaufman County and defrauding the county,” Johnson told inForney.com. “We want our county to be clean and to be safe and we are going to do everything we can to make sure it stays that way. Our county is not going to be defrauded.”
Johnson says the title fraud case remains active and open. Additional arrests and charges are expected, he said.
