Cheney Free Press
SPANGLE — A local man has been indicted on 14 counts counts of fraud in connection with an alleged illegal business scheme that bilked other businesses out of more than $5 million.
Christopher Lee Terry Sr., 39, of Spangle, was indicted Feb. 21 by a federal grand jury for running a fraudulent car import and finance scheme between January 2019 and June 2020.
The indictment alleges Terry, through Allwest Financial LLC doing business as Allwest Auto Remarketing, defrauded auto financier NextGear Capital Inc. and Canadian auto retailer Birchwood Automotive Group Partnership, among others, by fraudulently claiming ownership of hundreds of vehicles that had been imported from Canada and which Allwest was supposedly refurbishing for potential re-sale.
Court records show that in order to qualify imported vehicles as collateral for millions of dollars in advance loans from NextGear, Terry and his company used fraudulent documents purporting to show said vehicles were owned, or were in the process of being purchased, by Allwest, when in fact they were not, according to the indictment.
The indictment also alleges that NextGear relied on Terry’s false and fraudulent representations, believed that Allwest owned the vehicles, that the loans were secured by the vehicles, and that the loans would be paid back once the vehicles were re-sold. However, since Allwest did not own the vehicles, any proceeds from any re-sale of the vehicles were owed to the true owner, such as Birchwood, leaving NextGear with outstanding, unsecured and uncollectible loans.
In addition, the indictment alleges Terry and Allwest, at times, pocketed both the fraudulently obtained NextGear financing and vehicle resale proceeds, thereby profiting twice from a vehicle Allwest did not own.
As a result, the scheme defrauded NextGear, Birchwood and others out of more than $5 million, records show.
The fraud charges carry maximum sentences of up to 30 years in federal prison.
This case — United States v. Christopher Lee Terry Sr. and Allwest Financial LLC; case No: 2-24-CR-27-TOR-2 — was investigated by the FBI.
Assistant U.S. Attorneys Tyler Tornabene and Dan Fruchter are prosecuting the case.
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