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Phalen on Fraud Ring

Fairfield County authorities have seized 50 vehicles from a Pataskala Buy here-Pay here who they believe was part of a fraud ring.

Sheriff Dave Phalen says Sommer Auto has been scamming people for the past year.

“They have been scamming individuals and mortgage companies, creating fraudulent vehicle titles or altering titles. We think there could be as many as between 300 and 400 vehicles involved.”

Phalen says a deputy noticed a large number of vehicles on a property and that prompted the investigation.


Phalen adds because the fraud happened in Licking County, the State Patrol and Licking County officials will handle the investigation.

Press Release

Fairfield County Sheriff Dave Phalen says that detectives executed a search warrant this morning at 2630 Musser Road in Walnut Township and seized over 50 cars. Phalen says that the cars were fraudulently obtained by a Pataskala area used car dealership. The dealership, Sommer Auto Inc., 15 W. Broad St., Pataskala, was a buy-here pay-here lot. It is believed that legitimate customers would buy a car, make their payment to Sommer Auto, but Sommer Auto would pocket the money and not pay the creditor. The bank would issue a repossession order. Sommer Auto would then repo the car and hide it from the lender, telling them that they could not find it.

Phalen says that Sommer Auto would also take trade-ins, and not pay off the customer’s loan. They would then hide the car so when the lender came looking for the car they would tell them that they never had the car. An agent for Sommer Auto was able to fraudulently remove the lien holders from the titles, so that the cars could then be re-sold. Phalen describes the operation as an elaborate scheme to defraud the banks.

Phalen says that the investigation began last week when a deputy stopped a vehicle with a fictitious dealer plate. It was discovered that the Lancaster dealership was no longer in business, and that the driver could not prove ownership of the vehicle. While questioning the driver, it was discovered that he had over 50 other cars parked on his property. Detectives were able trace back all of the VIN numbers to discover the fraud. Phalen says, “We confirmed ownership with some of the lenders and also confirmed that they had been looking for these vehicles.”

Phalen says that many of the cars will be turned directly over to the banks who own them. The others will be impounded until the proper owners can be found. No arrests have been made at this point. Phalen says that the fraud took place outside of Fairfield County, so the investigation will be turned over to other investigators with the State Highway Patrol Theft Section and Licking County.