Civil suits urged in auto dealer controversy

The indictment contains 63 felony counts alleging crimes committed between 2002 and 2006.

By DENISE DICK

and PETER H. MILLIKEN

VINDICATOR STAFF WRITERS

YOUNGSTOWN — A top official in the Mahoning County prosecutor’s office is urging victims of an alleged automobile dealing fraud scheme to protect their financial interests by filing civil suits in small claims court against those who have been criminally charged in the scheme.

“What we’re suggesting to all the victims is that they need to file individual lawsuits to protect their civil rights relative to restitution,” said Robert Bush, chief of the criminal division in the Mahoning County prosecutor’s office.

“On the criminal deal, there may be some restitution. There may be some fines, but I don’t know if there are enough funds available to cover their losses,” Bush said Friday.

“If you say ‘I had to make double [car] payments for two years’ just to keep your credit good, that’s not going to be an issue that’s going to be dealt with in a criminal proceeding,” he explained.

Buddy Harvey, 41, of Florida, formerly of Berlin Center, was indicted on 43 counts of theft, 15 title offenses, three counts of tampering with records and one count each of defrauding creditors and passing bad checks.

His brother, Gregory A. Harvey, 36, of Beloit, was indicted on 27 theft counts, one count of tampering with records and 12 title offenses.

The investigation began in 2006 when several people filed reports with Boardman and Canfield police, regarding Harv’s Cars, a now-closed car dealership on Market Street that formerly operated on U.S. Route 224 in Canfield.

Buddy Harvey owned the dealership. The Harveys could not be reached to comment.

The indictment against the Harveys, which contains 63 felony counts pertaining to alleged events between 2002 and 2006, was returned Thursday by the Mahoning County grand jury to which the case was directly presented. The Harveys leased cars and sold new and used cars.

Bush said small claims suits seeking up to $10,000 may be filed either in a county court where the transaction occurred or at the county or municipal court where the plaintiff resides. “It’s worth it” to file suit, he said.

Plaintiffs complete a one-page form and pay a $50 small claims filing fee, and they don’t need a lawyer, he said. Bush estimated that there are more than 60 victims in this case, in which he said the total fraud is in hundreds of thousands of dollars.

In some of the reports, the victims told police that they had traded in vehicles at the dealership for newer models. As part of the agreements, the dealership was to pay off the loan balances on the traded-in vehicles, but it failed to do so, forcing victims to make payments on both the old and newer vehicles, Bush said.

Other complaints came from people who bought vehicles at Harv’s but contend they never received the titles. Those who told police that their loans hadn’t been paid off learned their loans were outstanding when they received late notices from their banks.

Other victims said they paid for warranties on vehicles purchased at the dealership and later learned that those warranties hadn’t been processed and weren’t valid.

The Harveys also take in vehicles to be sold under a consignment arrangement, in which the Harveys were to get a commission and give remaining sale proceeds to the sellers, Bush said. “They were selling them and not giving the people the proceeds,” Bush said. Purchasers then drove the vehicles without valid titles, he added.

Boardman Detective Glenn Patton said the tampering with records charge that pertains to both brothers stems from an attempt to sell a Lincoln Navigator using a vehicle identification number belonging to another car.

Canfield Detective Andy Bodzak and Dan Farinelli of the Ohio Bureau of Motor Vehicles Enforcement Division also investigated the case, Patton said.

The other two tampering charges that Buddy Harvey faces deal with property that he is accused of transferring from a Lowellville woman, 57, to a company that he owned.

“He did it using his dead mother’s notary to notarize it,” Patton said. “His mother died in March [2006], and the property was transferred in July and August.”

The victim filed a police report in October 2006, telling police that Buddy Harvey, with whom she was friends, approached her in 2005 and asked if he could sign four rental properties over to her to help with his finances, the police report says.

Buddy Harvey told her he would still make the payments, collect the rent and do maintenance on the properties, the victim told police. Paperwork for the transaction was done at the Market Street car dealership, and the woman said that in May 2006, she began getting calls from collection agencies about late payments.

In September 2006, the woman learned that deeds for the four properties were signed over to Harvgord Enterprises, owned by Buddy Harvey. But she didn’t sign any paperwork to do the transaction, she told police. Copies of the deeds make it appear she signed the deeds over to the company in July 2006.

The mortgages for the properties were still in the victim’s name.

The woman, who didn’t want her name used, said she is still struggling with the financial difficulties because of those transfers, but the indictment provides some relief.

She said it makes her feel better “just to know that he can’t hurt anybody else.”