Flim-Flam Man Is Sought in Car-Swindling Scheme

Newport Beach police are looking for a man who has duped at least three people by purchasing their expensive cars with stolen or counterfeit cashier’s checks.

Detective Jeff Cantrell said the man, described as a smooth talker who finds his victims by answering newspaper classified ads, has fraudulently bought a Rolls-Royce, a Mercedes and a Porsche with cashier’s checks allegedly taken from the El Camino Bank at 100 N. Harbor Blvd. in Anaheim.

Police first became aware of the scam in early January after Dr. Robert Amstadter reported that he had sold his 1985 Porsche to a man in exchange for a $32,500 cashier’s check that turned out to be invalid.

Cantrell said the swindler drove the Porsche to Campbell Porsche-Audi in Buena Park, where he sold it to the dealer for $29,000. The man, he said, immediately went to the dealership’s bank and cashed the check.

“He’s a smooth talker and doesn’t spend a whole lot of time with the victim,” Cantrell said. “He gets there, shows an interest in the vehicle and gives them the counterfeit or stolen cashier’s check. Before the seller knows it’s a bad check, this guy is gone.”

Cantrell said the con artist has always conducted the transactions on Fridays after the banks have closed. That way, he explained, the victim does not know he has been duped until at least the following Monday when he deposits the check.

Police identified another victim as Allen Miller of Beverly Hills, who sold his 1983 Rolls-Royce for $80,000 to the man two weeks after the Amstadter swindle. Cantrell said the suspect then drove to Gregg Motors in Santa Barbara, where he sold the luxury car for $67,493.

When the swindler attempted to cash the dealer’s check at Union Bank in Los Angeles, bank officials became suspicious. The bank manager refused to cash the check but not before the suspect was photographed by bank videotape cameras. Authorities say they have no record of the check being cashed elsewhere.

Cantrell said the man struck a third time in San Juan Capistrano on Jan. 23 when he gave a bogus $39,200 check to George Braithwaite, a dentist, in exchange for Braithwaite’s 1985 Mercedes. He subsequently sold the car to Johnson Motors in West Covina for $34,000 and cashed the check at a Pasadena branch of Bank of America, police said.

Police said the man is in his early 40s. All three victims said that he has “very red hair” and blue eyes. But police say he may have dyed his hair as it appears to be brown on the videotape shot at Union Bank.

Cantrell has asked that anyone with information about the swindles call (714) 644-3782 or, after regular business hours, (714) 644-3717.