Posted on: November 07, 2019 07:00 PM

Share : Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp

Man charged with bilking would be Uber investors out of nearly 500 000 with car buying scheme

Queens Acting District Attorney John M. Ryan today announced that a Miami resident has been charged with grand larceny and other crimes for allegedly scamming investors out of nearly $500,000 after convincing them he would buy cars to use as ride shares, but purchased very few and despite promising the vehicles would be in investors? names, they were not. The defendant allegedly schemed 6 investors between November 2016 through August 2017, before he abruptly leaving the country.

Acting District Attorney Ryan said, ?The defendant in this case allegedly took advantage of the growing ride share industry to offer potential investors a great deal - ante up cash for cars and get hefty sums of money back every month. The defendant is accused of bilking at least 6 individuals out of nearly $500,000. In many instances zero cars were purchased on behalf of investors. The defendant then left the country. He is now back and in custody and facing seriously prison time for this alleged scam.?

The Queens District Attorney?s Office identified the defendant as Walid Eyada, 50, of Ocean Drive in Miami, Florida. The defendant was arraigned yesterday before Queens Criminal Court Judge Jerry Iannece on a complaint charging him with second-and third-degree grand larceny, second- and third-degree criminal possession of stolen property and first-degree scheme to defraud. The defendant was granted supervised release and ordered to return to court on December 10, 2019. If convicted, Eyada faces up to 15 years in prison.

According to the charges, said Acting DA Ryan, in January 2017, Eyada approached a business owner about a potential investment. The defendant offered to purchase vehicles at auction to be used as Uber ride share cars. Each car purchased, the defendant assured the investor would receive a return of approximately $1,200 each month for each vehicle. The investor gave the defendant $237,000 for 35 cars. The defendant had Vehicle Identification Numbers (VIN) for each vehicle and told the investor he ?owned? the cars. The defendant - who operated a company called Q-8 Realty - was listed on paperwork as the ?rentor? or ?leasee.?

Continuing, said Acting DA Ryan, the defendant paid the investor as promised for several

months. However, in the summer of 2017 the checks either stopped coming or began to bounce and then in August 2017 Eyada could not be found. An investigator examined DMV records that allegedly showed the vehicles with the VIN numbers the investor was given had never been registered or titled to the investor. In many instances, the investigator discovered that several VIN numbers allegedly matched cars that were owned by different investors.

The defendant, as detailed in the criminal complaint, offered the same investment deal to at least 5 other individuals. One victim thought he was purchasing 17 Toyota Camrys for the $136,000 he gave the defendant. However, according to DMV records, none of the designated VINs were ever registered to that investor either and the vehicles were actually owned by other individuals or corporations.

The investigation was conducted by Rackets Investigator James Monaco of the Queens District Attorney?s Office.

Assistant District Attorney Kathryn A.A. O?Neill, of the District Attorney?s Organized Crime and Rackets Bureau, is prosecuting the case under the supervision of Assistant District Attorneys Gerard A. Brave, Bureau Chief, Catherine C. Kane and Mary M. Lowenburg, Deputy Bureau Chiefs, Hana C. Kim, Supervisor, and under the overall supervision of Executive Assistant District Attorney for Investigations Peter A. Crusco and Deputy Executive Assistant District Attorney of Investigations Wilbert J. LeMelle.

It should be noted that a criminal complaint is merely an accusation and that a defendant is presumed innocent until proven guilty. (From Queens DA's Office)