Motorcycle purchased with fraudulent check returned to dealership
A Central Texas motorcycle dealer is no longer out $23,000 after receiving a forged and fraudulent check for a Harley-Davidson.
The suspect who is accused of committing the crime is also now in jail, according to a report on KCENTV.
Bell County Motoworks in Temple, Texas is one of multiple victims of a forgery incident involving fake cashier’s checks. The suspect allegedly stole banking information from another local business to buy the bike, a Harley-Davidson Street Glide.
The dealership’s general manager, Eric Hermanson, told the news that he’s happy to have the motorcycle back. But, for him, the case isn’t closed.
“One thing I cannot stand is a liar and a thief, and he’s both. So him doing it to our shop… I’m still upset about it,” Hermanson says. “He’s done it to a couple of the businesses of people that I know, so it needs to be stopped.”
When he realized what had happened, Hermanson immediately marked the motorcycle tags as stolen.
After the original news story aired, Hermanson says he received multiple calls about the stolen bike’s location. A week later, the motorcycle was spotted in town with a new owner. Hermanson told the news station that the new owner described the check fraud suspect as the seller.
Hermanson believes there’s a flaw in the system that makes the motor vehicle industry more susceptible to fraud and that Texas needs to make some changes.
“It’s a bit flawed when somebody is out committing these types of crimes and stealing vehicles, and they’ve got a temporary tag, there’s proof that it’s their vehicle, and if they get somebody to buy the story,” Hermanson explains.
The VIN search on the Harley Davidson Street Glide Special showed the tag status to be “voided. It should be labeled as stolen… that would stop a lot of fraud,” Hermanson adds.
Source: KCENTV
