Two North Lauderdale car dealership employees are accused of hundreds of thousands of dollars fraud; scammed the business and clients

North Lauderdale, Florida – Following allegations made by law enforcement that two workers at a vehicle dealership in North Lauderdale stole hundreds of thousands of dollars from both the dealership and its clients, those individuals have been arrested and charged.

Officials from the Broward Sheriff’s Office announced on Tuesday that William Jason Tyler, 47, and Walfredo Misas Cruz, 31, were taken into custody on Wednesday and charged with a total of 25 counts of grand theft auto, one count of first-degree grand theft, and one count of obtaining property worth more than $50,000 by fraud.

According to investigators, the inquiry into Tyler and Cruz began in July after their company, Z Motors on South State Road 7, alleged unethical conduct involving the two individuals.

“There was a certain automobile that I was looking for, but I couldn’t locate it. It was the one that stood out the most. The manager of Z Motors, who asked that his name not be published, explained on Tuesday that this was the initial spark that set everything in motion. “That was the point where everything got started. After that, everything fell into place like dominoes.”

The two were accused of defrauding the company and its clients out of more than $643,000, according to the findings of the investigation that was conducted by the detectives. The conspiracy began in November of 2018.

Officials believe that as part of their operation, the two individuals stole 24 vehicles from the dealership and then sold those stolen vehicles to customers and wholesalers for a total of $347,774.

They are also accused of defrauding 166 of the company’s clients out of close to $300,000 in cash through the use of money transfer applications, according to the authorities.

According to the officials, the clients believed the company would receive their down payments as well as their monthly vehicle payments, but in reality, Tyler and Cruz were the ones who were receiving the funds.

Both suspects were processed at the main jail in Broward County. There was no information on attorneys that could be found.

The manager of Z Motors, which has been in business since 2008, said they’ll eventually move on from the episode.

“I offered two persons who utilized Z Motors for their own benefit my trust as well as a job and my faith in them,” the guy claimed “according to the management. “Does it hurt? Oh, yes, of course it does. Are we going to pull through this? Not a doubt. Z motors will get back on its feet eventually, even though it may take me some time to figure out just what went wrong and how it occurred.”

The investigation is still ongoing at this time.