Bulgarian crime ring swindles car dealers for $1.6 million
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Bulgarian crime ring swindles car dealers for $1.6 million
LAS VEGAS, May 25 (UPI) -- A Bulgarian immigrant is charged as a ringleader in schemes to rob ATMs and defraud car dealers in the U.S. Southwest, investigators say.
Dimitar Dimitrov, 58, is named in three indictments handed up by federal grand juries, the Las Vegas Review-Journal reports. The indictments were unsealed last week as FBI agents began rounding up suspects.
At a hearing Monday, Assistant U.S. Attorney Kathleen Bliss said Dimitrov, a U.S. citizen living in Las Vegas, appears to be a violent criminal. She said he was caught on tape saying he would take care of a potential prosecution witness by tying him up, pouring gasoline on him and then approaching him with a cigarette lighter. "I'm going to turn him into barbecue," Dimitrov allegedly said.
Dimitrov, who is suspected of having ties with crime bosses in Bulgaria, allegedly masterminded a scheme that cost car dealers in Las Vegas and Phoenix $1.6 million. The group allegedly sent in straw buyers who obtained car loans using fake information. The vehicles were allegedly sold elsewhere in the United States and in Europe.
Dimitar Dimitrov, 58, is named in three indictments handed up by federal grand juries, the Las Vegas Review-Journal reports. The indictments were unsealed last week as FBI agents began rounding up suspects.
At a hearing Monday, Assistant U.S. Attorney Kathleen Bliss said Dimitrov, a U.S. citizen living in Las Vegas, appears to be a violent criminal. She said he was caught on tape saying he would take care of a potential prosecution witness by tying him up, pouring gasoline on him and then approaching him with a cigarette lighter. "I'm going to turn him into barbecue," Dimitrov allegedly said.
Dimitrov, who is suspected of having ties with crime bosses in Bulgaria, allegedly masterminded a scheme that cost car dealers in Las Vegas and Phoenix $1.6 million. The group allegedly sent in straw buyers who obtained car loans using fake information. The vehicles were allegedly sold elsewhere in the United States and in Europe.