SoCal dealer charged with Lamborghini scam

SANTA ANA, Calif., March 11 (UPI) -- A high-end Southern California sports car dealer has been charged with bilking his financing company by not reporting sales, federal prosecutors said Wednesday.

Viken Keuylian, 45, Laguna Hills was charged Wednesday with wire fraud in connection with millions of dollars borrowed to pay for expensive Lamborghini cars that he sold out of his two Orange County lots.

The U.S. Attorney's office in Los Angeles said in a written statement that Keuylian, whose sales accounted for 5 percent of the Lamborghinis sold worldwide, would plead guilty in Santa Ana federal court on Monday.

Prosecutors said Keuylian allegedly borrowed millions of dollars from Volkswagen Credit Inc. to pay for the purchase of the cars he sold out of his dealerships in Orange County and Calabasas. The loan agreement required Keuylian to pay VCI back whenever he sold a car.

Keuylian was accused of selling cars and then failing to report the sale. He allegedly used the money from the loans to pay off unrelated business debts.

The FBI seized some 54 vehicles worth more than $12 million in the investigation, including some Bentleys and other high-end cars.