Tampa Bay, Florida auto dealer and wholesaler Mohamad Jihad Fakih, 27, faces prison time after being found guilty of a scheme involving fraudulent loans, straw buyers, false insurance claims and a stolen Rolls-Royce SUV.
Fakih was sentenced to four and a half years in prison for conspiracy to commit wire fraud and attempting to export a stolen vehicle, reports the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Middle District of Florida (1) (USAO).
He was also ordered to forfeit $378,886.96, “the proceeds of the conspiracy to commit wire fraud,” the USAO said in a statement.
According to court documents, Fakih and an accomplice targeted auto financing companies and submitted fraudulent loan applications through their dealership’s website. He and his accomplices collaborated with fictitious buyers (fake buyers) who had no intention of purchasing a car.
Fakih would then collect the loan money and give a portion of the money to his accomplices and straw buyers. He also used fraudulently obtained loan money to purchase cars and attempt to export them.
In what the USAO describes as a “simpler theft,” Fakih used a straw buyer to obtain a stolen Rolls-Royce Cullinan SUV worth $460,000 and then attempted to export it overseas, but the shipping container was seized by U.S. Customs and Border Protection.
USAO reports that Fakih also filed false insurance claims for vehicles, reporting them as stolen.
When it comes to auto purchases and loans, fraud affects both consumers and lenders.
Between March and September 2023, losses related to auto loan fraud were 21 times greater than losses due to credit card fraud, and six times greater than losses due to unsecured personal loan fraud, according to a TransUnion report (2).
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Risk management platform Point Predictive estimated (3) that auto lenders faced a $9.2 billion fraud risk in 2025 and that 69% of that figure would be due to borrowers and dealers misrepresenting information on loan applications, using false identities or falsifying employment or financial information to qualify for a loan.