Lebanon car dealer indicted for mileage fraud

A Lebanon car dealer was indicted for a scheme to sell vehicles with fraudulent titles by underreporting their actual mileage.

Kenneth Smith, 60, of Lebanon, was charged Aug. 26 in a seven-count indictment - all mail fraud counts - by a federal grand jury in Springfield. The indictment was unsealed and made public late last week after Smith's arrest and initial court appearance, according to a news release from the office of Tammy Dickinson, U.S. attorney for the Western District of Missouri.

Smith, the operator of Cars Unlimited, allegedly obtained 54 replacement titles from the state of Missouri, each of which underreported the actual mileage of the vehicles between 95,000 and 209,000 miles. Using the fraudulent replacement titles, Smith is accused of reselling the 54 vehicles at auto auctions for an aggregate total of roughly $346,450.

Starting in February 2010, Smith purchased vehicles through Cars Unlimited at auto auctions and applied for new titles after each purchase. During the timeframe of the scheme ending Nov. 7, 2011, Smith allegedly possessed the original titles of the vehicles when seeking replacements, according to the release.

Smith also allegedly forged the signatures of the vehicles' previous owners in order to receive the replacement titles.

The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Gary Milligan and was investigated by the FBI and the Missouri Department of Revenue.[[In-content Ad]]