A woman arrested in the attempted fraudulent purchase of a Tesla in South Florida admitted to being part of a systematic fraud organization that operates out of California and China, authorities said.
Chuting Chen, 24, was arrested Monday on charges including scheme to defraud a financial institution by an unauthorized alien, organized scheme to defraud, grand theft, possession or fraudulent use of personal identification, and transferring a vehicle title with no purchaser name, Miami-Dade jail records showed.
Miami-Dade CorrectionsMiami-Dade Corrections
Chuting Chen
According to an arrest report, Miami Gardens Police had responded to the Tesla showroom at 20850 Northwest 2nd Avenue after the manager said Chen tried to buy a Tesla Model X valued at $101,630 using a fraudulent driver’s license belonging to another person with a significantly higher credit score.
The manager said Chen also presented a cashier’s check for $10,802.39 issued by a business in Montana that she claimed she owned, the report said.
Chen spoke with detectives and admitted to using the fraudulent identification because the person had a better credit score, and said she purchased the fraudulent identification online for $100, the report said.
“Ms. Chen further admitted to being involved in a systematic fraud organization operating out of California and China, advising that her partner is currently located in China,” the report said.
Chen also admitted she operated a fraudulent shell company based out of Montana and had wired $38,250 on Feb. 2 which she was going to use as the down payment on the Tesla, the report said.
At the time of her arrest, Chen was found to be in possession of 32 state of California certificate of titles and 46 certificates of origin of vehicle, “which she knowingly possessed with the intent to fraudulently register vehicles and potentially ship them out of the country,” the report said.
Chen was booked into jail and briefly appeared in bond court Tuesday morning but was due back in court in the afternoon.