Two California men who own a Tucson-based car dealership were arraigned Tuesday in Pima County Superior Court on multiple fraud, theft and money-laundering charges.
Pima County hearing officer Roger Duncan entered pleas of not guilty on behalf of John David Franklin Sr., 72, and John David Franklin Jr., 47.
"The state's case can be summed up in two words — not guilty," said defense attorney Michael Piccarreta, who represents the elder Franklin. "I believe the case is the result of what can charitably be called an incomplete investigation. The state has chosen the wrong side in a civil business dispute."
The men are accused of stealing around $50,000 from Hurricane Motor Sales customers, plus an additional $145,000 from Car Financial Services Inc., a motor vehicle financing company.
The two men are accused of participating in three illegal schemes, said Assistant Arizona Attorney General Mike Jette.
People are also reading…
In the first scheme, the men would sell buyers vehicles that had liens on them without telling them, Jette said.
When customers tried to register their cars with the Arizona Motor Vehicle Department, they couldn't, Jette said. The customers who bought the cars found themselves responsible for the pre-existing liens, too.
In many instances, the buyers had their vehicles repossessed, so not only were they left without transportation, but they lost their down payments and their trade-in vehicle, too, Jette said.
The Franklins would then resell the repossessed vehicles using the same fraudulent tactics, Jette said.
The Franklins also financed cars when they weren't authorized to do so in the state of Arizona, Jette said.
Lastly, the Franklins would often sell their customers' contracts to Car Financial Services Inc. without telling their customers, Jette said.
When the customers called to ask why they were receiving bills from CFI, the Franklins would instruct them to continue sending their payments to Hurricane Motors but would never forward the payments to CFI, Jette said.
When CFI began repossessing those vehicles, customer complaints began pouring into the Attorney General's Office, Jette said.
Attorney General Terry Goddard shut down Hurricane Motor Sales, 3100 N. Oracle Road, in December, Jette said.
Investigators conducted an inventory on the business and have spent the last several months tracking down the company's paper trail, Jette said.
The Franklins purposely targeted first-generation U.S. citizens with low incomes, little education and poor language skills, Jette said.
If convicted, Franklin Sr. could be sentenced to between 10 and 63 years in prison. His son could receive between 15 and 86 years in prison.
The Franklins are due back in court Aug. 5 before Pima County Superior Court Judge John Leonardo.
