DA puts brakes on alleged car scam

The Cameron County District Attorney's office and other law enforcement agencies have cracked a fraudulent car scheme involving the owners of three local used car lots, investigators said Friday.

As of Friday, 45 warrants had been issued, a half dozen people arrested, the car lots shut down and the vehicles' keys seized, according to investigators.

District Attorney Armando Villalobos said this is the "tip of the iceberg" in a case that could involve several financial institutions in Cameron County.

"The banks are taking a beating on this because it's a scam," Villalobos said. "They (car lot owners) are just doing it over and over."

Villalobos added that there's a possibility that some employees of financial institutions might have been involved in the scheme.

"With all the checks and balances the banks normally do, you wouldn't expect this to happen," Villalobos said. "Right now, no one is above being a suspect."

Authorities found out about the scheme approximately a month ago after the banks contacted his office because they weren't getting the paid.

"We don't know the amounts (of money involved), but it could be in the hundreds of thousands, if not millions of dollars," Villalobos said.

Authorities identified the car lots as J Auto Sales on Boca Chica Boulevard, Supreme Auto Plex on McDavitt Boulevard and Gil's Auto Sales on Padre Island Highway.

Charged with engaging in organized criminal activity and tampering with governmental records were Martin A. Lucio, 35, Gilberto Lucio, 38, Norberto Lucio, 51, Estella Torres Lucio, 33, Edith Pena, 22, and Isabella Villegas Rivera, 36, who all remained in custody on Friday night.

Investigators believe the Lucio's owned the used car lots and Pena and Rivera were their employees.

The group was getting loans on vehicles for more than they were worth and then splitting the profits, Villalobos said.

Because the financial institutions were allegedly provided with false names on the loan applications, they had no way of tracking down the individuals who were given loans, Villalobos said.

"They (the suspects) created a situation where only they knew what you really owed on and only they knew where the car was," Villalobos said.

Authorities on Friday were also in the process of seizing homes, cars, boats and other items that were believed by investigators to have been purchased with money made from the scheme.

The Brownsville Police Department worked on getting the warrants ready for approximately three weeks and helped with the execution of the warrants Friday morning.

Authorities don't know how long the alleged fraudulent car scheme may have been in play. Investigators must review titles, identification cards and social security cards to try and determine any forgeries and a possible timeline.

"We anticipate by the time we are done there can be lots of different people involved and lots of different crimes that can be charged," Villalobos said.