Man Sentenced to Prison for Autotrader Fraud Scheme

Topics:  Autotrader

U.S. Attorney’s Office
Eastern District of Virginia
17 June 2020

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

ALEXANDRIA, Va. – A Richmond man was sentenced today to seven years in prison for his role in orchestrating an Autotrader fraud scheme that caused over $575,000 in losses to the victims.

According to court documents, John Baron Royal, 51, advertised high-end, luxury vehicles for sale on Autotrader.com, including Range Rovers, Mustangs, BMWs, and Mercedes-Benz SUVs. Royal used aliases to advertise the vehicles for sale and to extract payment for the vehicles from his victims. Ultimately, Royal failed to provide the victims with the vehicles. Unwitting victims agreed to purchase the vehicles from Royal who promised that he would have the vehicles shipped to the victims’ desired locations. To conceal his role in the fraud, Royal used a number of aliases, supplied his accomplices with burner phones, and used technology to disguise his voice. When the victims complained about not receiving the vehicles, Royal and others at Royal’s direction, sent a series of lulling communications to the victims to convince them that delivery of their respective vehicles was imminent. Royal also directed one of his co-conspirators to impersonate other individuals to communicate with the victims about delivery of a 2015 Range Rover.

In addition to these fraudulent misrepresentations, Royal sent pictures to the victims of fake and fraudulent documentation leading the victims to believe that Royal owned the vehicles for sale when, in fact, Royal did not own the vehicles. To further conceal his role in the fraud, Royal directed a number of other individuals to open bank accounts in the name of shell entities to receive the victims’ funds. Royal’s fraud was detected after he and an associate falsely reported a vehicle stolen to the Leesburg Police Department. After fraudulently reporting the vehicle stolen, Royal and his associates immediately left their residence in Leesburg and moved to Atlanta, Georgia. Intended losses to the victims were more than $575,000.

G. Zachary Terwilliger, U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia; Matthew S. Miller, Special Agent in Charge of the U.S. Secret Service’s Washington Field Office; Kelly R. Jackson, Special Agent in Charge, Washington, D.C. Field Office, IRS-Criminal Investigation (IRS-CI), James A. Dawson, Special Agent in Charge, Criminal Division, FBI Washington Field Office; and Gregory C. Brown, Leesburg Chief of Police, made the announcement after sentencing by U.S. District Judge Rossie D. Alston, Jr. Assistant U.S. Attorney Jamar K. Walker prosecuted the case.

A copy of this press release is located on the website of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Virginia. Related court documents and information are located on the website of the District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia or on PACER by searching for Case No. 1:19-cr-252.

Contact:
Joshua Stueve
Director of Public Affairs
joshua.stueve@usdoj.gov