Want to fraud victims? Buy a Ferrari — and maybe a Porsche, too.
Four exotic sports cars are being auctioned off after getting seized from a convicted scammer who took billions from his customers in fraudulent loans, the U.S. Attorney’s office said.
Two Ferraris (a rare 2011 599 SA Aperta that’s only one of 80 ever made, and a 2011 599xx track car) and two Porsches (a 2011 911 GT2 RS and a 2005 Carrera GT) were taken from Scott Tucker by the government after he was convicted in 2017 for operating an illegal internet payday lending enterprise worth $3.5 billion. The operation had dodged state law for more than a decade in order to charge illegal interest rates as high as 1000 percent on loans, according to U.S. Attorney’s office.
“The Ferrari and Porsche supercars offered for sale are just the most visible and gaudy signs of Tucker’s greed, luxury playthings bought with money stolen from victims who were often living hand to mouth, people who took out payday loans to buy food for their families or pay medical bills,” said U.S. Attorney Geoffrey Berman.
Tucker, along with co-defendant Timothy Muir, lied to millions of customers about what their loans would really cost in order to defraud them out of hundreds and even thousands of dollars, according to the press release. The fraudulent loans were issued to more than 4.5 million people in all fifty states, including more than 250,000 in New York alone — many of whom struggled to pay basic living expenses.
“We hope this auction generates proceeds sufficient to at least partially compensate the victims of Tucker’s multibillion-dollar fraud scheme,” Berman said.
The duo also formed sham relationships with Native American tribes and laundered their fortunes through tribal bank accounts, in an effort to hide Tucker’s role in owning and controlling the scheme, the U.S. Attorney’s office said. Both were found guilty on all 14 counts against them; Tucker was sentenced to 16 years in prison, while Muir got seven years.
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The auction takes place February 5 at the Circuit of the Americas in Austin, Texas. Proceeds from the sales will be distributed to victims of Tucker and Muir’s scam.
