Scammer steals $81,000 Maserati from dealership

DETROIT — A man with a fake loan and gusto stole a 2014 Maserati GranTurismo from a Michigan auto dealership — in the parking lot of an Illinois Walmart, police announced Monday.

In September, the man from Glenwood, Ill., agreed to buy the car for $81,900 from Suburban Maserati of Troy after seeing an ad for the vehicle on Auto Trader, according to Troy police. He paid an additional $550 to have the vehicle shipped to Illinois.

The man provided a photocopy of his Illinois driver's license, police said, and had gotten approved for credit to purchase the vehicle through Bank of America.

He asked the shipper to drop off the Maserati in the parking lot of a Walmart, saying the street he lived on was too small to accommodate the truck carrying the sports car.

After the transaction was complete, Bank of America contacted the dealership. The buyer had fraudulently obtained the loan using another person's identity.

"The business also received payment from the suspect for $1,026.40 to pay for the Michigan State Tax which they now feel was probably done with a fraudulent check," Troy police said in a news release.

Though the theft took place in September, police released the details of the incident Monday.

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