High End California Dealership Owner Charged With Theft And Tax Fraud

Every so often, the sweet kiss of justice comes to kiss scheming dealerships on the cheek. It doesn’t happen as often as it should, but it has happened to the former owner of a high-end car dealership in Southern California, the Daily Bulletin reports. That owner has been charged with $4 million in theft, as well as with tax fraud.

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Clayton Thom owned CNC Motors, a high end car dealership in Upland, California. The dealer’s inventory was massive with everything from a lowly Mercedes C-Class to Ferrari F430s, Aston Martins, etc. While from the outside the dealer appeared to be legitimate, internally, Thom was in over his head. He had massive amounts of debt and used the vehicles in his inventory to pay it off in a complex scheme of lies, consignment and persuasion.

According to investigators, Thom perpetrated his embezzlement scheme from 2018 to 2021 by stealing from customers at his dealership in Upland. He encouraged victims to place high-value vehicles on consignment, sometimes persuading them to leave their titles at the dealership. These victims signed contracts that promised payment within twenty days of their vehicle’s sale.

However, after selling the victims’ consigned cars and collecting the proceeds, Thom did not pay the victims. In many cases, he also used these consigned vehicles to settle his debts and to obtain loans. Separately, Thom allegedly prevented customers who purchased consigned vehicles from receiving legal ownership. He did not endorse, date, and deliver the certificates of ownership and registration, or in some cases, delivered forged titles.

With assistance from his business manager Valerie Tanaka, Thom managed to avoid paying $4.4 million in California sales tax between 2017 and 2021. Thom was also allegedly in the business of selling lemon supercars. One former customer, Shane Hammond, who purchased a 2008 Ferrari F430 for $105,000 in 2019, said the car has given him nothing but problems since the moment he bought it.

“The very first night we got that car it almost killed us because the throttle got stuck wide open. I’m stuck with it, and I’m stuck with the memory of who put me in this position. Every time I look at that car I think of that son of a bitch,” Hammond said of Thom.

Luckily everything has caught up with Thom. California Attorney General Rob Bonta announced that Thom has been charged with “with 37 counts of grand theft and one count of elder theft.” His business manager isn’t getting off easy either; Tanaka is being charged with 13 counts of tax fraud.

Austin based Youtuber Dan Hurlbert, who helped Hammond and other victims of Thom and CNC Motors in an online campaign in 2021 through his Normal Guy Supercar website, said he doesn’t think the charges are enough. He says he received over 100 complaints against Thom through his site. “It’s unfortunate the whole situation happened. There are still tons of people out there who haven’t been made whole, and probably will never be made whole. “I don’t think it’s enough punishment.”