Bogus auto loans netted alleged conspirators more than $250,000, prosecutors allege
Aug. 10—Six people have been charged with bank fraud after they allegedly used phony documents to get auto loans from local credit unions, according to prosecutors.
According to an indictment from the U.S. Attorney's Office in New Hampshire, the scheme resulted in more than $250,000 in fraudulent loans.
Prosecutors say the group — Solomon Yarteh, 47, of Sierra Leone; Robesteur St. Felix, 46, of Manchester; Niurka Lebron, 44, previously of Boston, Mass.; Donna Marie Silva, 43, of Lowell, Mass.; Arthur Beckett, 35, of Covington, Ga. and Amara Jalloh, 41, of Sierra Leone — and two Manchester businesses were involved in a scheme to convince banks to give them loans to purchase cars they did not actually buy, and a loan for a car that was worth less than the loan.
Prosecutors allege that in 2019, Yarteh and St. Felix used their used-car businesses in Manchester to draw up papers showing they had purchased cars — but prosecutors say they never bought those cars or inflated the value of the cars that were bought.
They and others charged then went to three local credit unions to apply for car loans using what prosecutors said were phony papers to convince the banks that they had cars to back up the loans, or that they had cars worth more than they really were.
Prosecutors say the group received more than $250,000 in loans in total — without cars to secure the loans or secured by cars worth less than claimed.
The six alleged to be involved areall charged with bank fraud for the scheme. Yarteh, St. Felix and Silva also face money laundering charges for making bank transfers or withdrawing cash that prosecutors said came from the car-less car loans.
The indictment in the case was unsealed last week after the St. Felix, Silva and Beckett were arrested. Their trial is set to begin Oct. 5, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office.
