DORAL, Fla. – A man received a letter from an auto lender congratulating him on the brand-new Dodge Ram pickup he just leased. But there was one problem, police said: He never leased the truck.
That sparked an investigation centering around a salesman at a Doral car dealership, according to authorities.
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Doral police took Luis Angel Bibbo, 54, of southwest Miami-Dade, into custody on Tuesday. According to an arrest report, Bibbo worked at Bomnin Chrysler Dodge Jeep Ram, located at 9975 NW 12th St., just east of the Miami International Mall.
An arrest report states the victim spoke with the dealership’s corporate financial director, who realized that someone had used the victim’s identity to “unlawfully lease and steal” the truck, which had a sales price of $98,760. The total price of the transaction, police said, was $157,380.
The director told police Monday that Bomnin was investigating Bibbo internally, telling investigators that “Bibbo skipped several protocols while making the sale, including personally taking the vehicle to the customer outside of dealership grounds, as well as the final paperwork that needed to be signed.”
Police said Bibbo sold the vehicle to a broker, later identified as 33-year-old Denis Marti Martinez.
Marti Martinez, the report states, “had presented a fraudulent Florida driver’s license with a picture that does not belong to the victim but contains all his information,” like his driver’s license number, address and date of birth.
A private investigator hired by Bomnin “advised that he identified multiple inconsistencies that (Bibbo) conducted throughout the sales of the vehicles that were outside of protocol,” the arrest report states.
Bibbo, during a police interview, claimed he had received the victim’s information from the broker and ran his information and the victim was approved to lease the vehicle, police said.
Bibbo told detectives that the broker said his client was “too busy” to come to the dealership to sign the paperwork, so instead, they met at a Wendy’s less than three miles away.
Police said Bibbo couldn’t answer why they didn’t just meet at the dealership, considering it was so close.
According to police, Bibbo told investigators that when he got to the Wendy’s, the broker told him the buyer’s son would be showing up instead.
Bibbo didn’t ask the son for his identification and didn’t verify his identity, police said.
“The unknown son signed all the paperwork, and (Bibbo) did not photograph him as is protocol for their business practices,” the report states. “(Bibbo) then responded back to (Bomnin) and gave the paperwork to the finance manager and failed to inform them that the actual buyer did not sign the paperwork. The finance was approved and the vehicle was picked up at a later date.”
Police said Bibbo gave the vehicle to Marti Martinez.
Authorities said Homestead police found the truck Monday and arrested Marti Martinez on multiple charges, including grand theft and organized scheme to defraud.
Bibbo, an Argentine national, was arrested on two counts each of grand theft and organized scheme to defraud and was being held on a $17,500 bond.
Local 10 News has contacted Bomnin seeking comment on Bibbo’s arrest.