Man accused of rolling back car odometers
RALEIGH (WTVD) -- A Raleigh man is accused of rolling back odometers on 20 cars and selling 15 of them.
Flavio Oliveira, 39, faced a judge for the first time Wednesday afternoon on those charges and one more - not having a car dealer's license.
Neighbors of the address listed for Oliveira say he and his family moved out recently, but when they lived there cars were often lined up on the street.
State Department of Motor Vehicles investigators lodged the charges against the Brazilian man who is now under an immigration detainer.
It appears most of the cars were sold to individuals, but at least one ended up in an auction according to Gary Essick, who is a used Honda dealer in Thomasville, North Carolina.
Essick tells ABC11 that he bought the car at auction from a well-respected new car dealer. He sold the car and was shocked when DMV investigators showed up on his doorstep weeks later asking about it.
"It is a big mess because we, you know, after we sold the car you've got to think back if you were, if you were sold a car and four to six months down the road you were told that you had to return it immediately for a possible fraudulent odometer statement, you know, it's going to upset the customer," said Essick.
DMV officials say Oliveira was doing business as Vista Auto Brokers on Kirkland Road in Raleigh. They ask that anyone who bought a car from him and thinks their odometer may have been rolled back to contact them.
Click here for a fact sheet from the DMV.
