If you happened to buy a used car from ABB Auto World in Brookhaven, you very well may have bought a vehicle with a lot more miles on it than you thought.
That’s because Suffolk County District Attorney Ray Tierney announced that the ABB Auto World President and a Salesperson were indicted on defrauding charges. The two are accused of rolling back the odometer on used cars in order to fraudulently pump up the price on unsuspecting customers.
“Fraudulent business practices such as tampering with vehicle odometers and inflating prices undermines trust in the marketplace which has a devastating impact on honest local business owners, and causes consumers to purchase vehicles at artificially inflated prices,” said District Attorney Tierney.
A criminal investigation led to the arrest of the two ABB Auto World employees: 27-year-old Ashley Duff and 58-year-old Ginger Snipes. Both live in Shirley. They were indicted for Scheme to Defraud in the First Degree and Conspiracy in the Fifth Degree. Both women are out on bail, because under New York State bail reform laws, the charges do not allow judges and prosecutors to do so.
Prosecutors were tipped off the alleged odometer scheme when at least 12 victims contacted police to express concerns that mileage on their cars were tampered with. The Suffolk County Police then contacted the Suffolk County District Attorney’s Office. The investigation then expanded to include the National Insurance Crime Bureau (NICB).
“We are pleased that NICB had the opportunity to provide support. Individuals that prey on unsuspecting consumers by rolling back vehicle odometers to increase their profit will not be tolerated and those responsible will be prosecuted to the full extent of the law,” said Kevin Gallagher, Regional Director of the Northeast Region of the National Insurance Crime Bureau (NICB).
Law enforcement believes ABB Auto World Inc. purposely purchased high mileage vehicles from car auctions, some with over 200,000 miles documented on their odometers, and then had the odometers rolled back to show lower mileages.
The vehicles would then allegedly be advertised for sale by the two defendants on Facebook Marketplace. Sales paperwork was allegedly fraudulently created with false mileage and presented to the victims as authentic. This resulted in ABB Auto World Inc. charging thousands of dollars more for each vehicle than what the vehicles were worth.
Duff, president of ABB Auto World Inc., was arraigned on the indictment before Acting Supreme Court Justice Steven A. Pilewski, who released Duff on her own recognizance during the pendency of the case. Duff is due back in court on May 30, 2024.
Sipes, a saleswoman at ABB Auto World Inc., was arraigned on the indictment before Acting Supreme Court Justice Karen M. Wilutis, who released Sipes on her own recognizance during the pendency of the case. Sipes is due back in court on May 30, 2024.
This case is being prosecuted by Assistant District Attorneys James Bartens and Adriana Noyola of the Financial Crimes Bureau, and the investigation was conducted by Detectives Randy Edwards and Kevin Braithwaite of the Suffolk County Police Department’s District Attorney Squad.