{"id":181511,"date":"2026-03-07T00:44:15","date_gmt":"2026-03-07T00:44:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/181511\/"},"modified":"2026-03-07T00:44:15","modified_gmt":"2026-03-07T00:44:15","slug":"tampa-car-dealer-sentenced-to-prison-accused-of-372k-car-loan-fraud-scheme","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/181511\/","title":{"rendered":"Tampa car dealer sentenced to prison, accused of $372K car loan fraud scheme"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Tampa Tampa auto dealer sentenced in insurance scam<\/a> <\/p>\n

A 27-year-old Tampa man is heading to federal prison after investigators say he used his position as a car dealer to submit fake loan applications and insurance claims. FOX 13’s Ariel Plasencia reports.<\/p>\n

TAMPA, Fla. – A 27-year-old Tampa <\/a>man is heading to federal prison after investigators say he used his position as a car dealer to submit fake loan applications and insurance claims.<\/p>\n

Mohamad Jihad Fakih was sentenced to four and a half years in federal prison for conspiracy to commit wire fraud and attempting to export a stolen motor vehicle, according to the state attorney’s office.<\/p>\n

Fakih, who was found guilty in August 2025, was also ordered to forfeit $378,886.96 \u2014 the proceeds of “the conspiracy to commit wire fraud.”<\/p>\n

The backstory:<\/p>\n

According to court documents, Fakih used his role as a car dealer and wholesaler to access a dealership website, “through which automobile financing applications could be submitted.” He and an unidentified co-conspirator allegedly identified fake buyers, whose names were on the loan documents.<\/p>\n

READ: ‘We are exhausted\u2019: Tampa rescue races to save accidental litter, begs community to foster<\/a><\/p>\n

Investigators say Fakih and his co-conspirator would then submit these fake applications to financing companies for cars that didn\u2019t actually exist.<\/p>\n

After the loans were approved, the funds were disbursed to Fakih as the supposed seller, investigators say. He would then pocket the cash and give a cut to his co-conspirator and the fake buyers.<\/p>\n

Dig deeper:<\/p>\n

Federal prosecutors say Fakih also filed false insurance claims, reporting the vehicles as stolen.<\/p>\n

Officials say this scheme involved at least six vehicles in the amount of at least $372,000.<\/p>\n

Investigators say Fakih also attempted to export cars overseas. In one instance, Fakih is accused of arranging for a stolen Rolls-Royce Cullinan SUV to be shipped in a container out of the Port of Savannah. However, U.S. Customs and Border Protection intercepted the container and seized the stolen Rolls-Royce before it could leave the country.<\/p>\n

The entire case was investigated by the FBI\u2019s Joint Terrorism Task Force.<\/p>\n

What they’re saying:<\/p>\n

In a written statement, Fakih\u2019s attorney, Mark O\u2019Brien, told FOX 13, “My client accepted full responsibility for his actions.”<\/p>\n

The Source: Information for this story was gathered from the state attorney’s office and a statement from the defendant’s attorney.<\/p>\n

Tampa<\/a>Crime and Public Safety<\/a> <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Tampa auto dealer sentenced in insurance scam A 27-year-old Tampa man is heading to federal prison after investigators…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":181512,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[630,47,629,115,135,137,136,628],"class_list":["post-181511","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-tampa","tag-crime-publicsafety","tag-fl","tag-hillsborough","tag-news","tag-tampa","tag-tampa-headlines","tag-tampa-news","tag-us"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/181511","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=181511"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/181511\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/181512"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=181511"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=181511"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=181511"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}