Car salesman on FBI most wanted list behind bars
Scot captured after five-year hunt over ‘£1.3m luxury vehicle scam’
A SCOTS-BOrN businessman who was on the FBI’s most wanted list has been captured after more than five years on the run.
Afzal Khan was wanted by authorities in the US over an alleged £1.3million car scam.
He is accused of conning a string of customers and financial firms at a motor dealership he ran in New Jersey and could face up to 100 years in prison if convicted.
The FBI announced the 37-yearold, originally from Edinburgh, was arrested in the United Arab Emirates after handing himself in and was flown back to the US on Monday.
Special Agent Gregory Ehrie, of the FBI’s Newark field office, said: ‘Mr Khan came to the sobering reality that he could not outrun the FBI. People who flee to other countries to avoid prosecution only delay the inevitable and live every day with the knowledge that we are still in pursuit. Mr Khan obviously reached the conclusion that it wasn’t worth it.’
Khan is being held in Bergen County Jail in New Jersey while he awaits trial after five years on the FBI’s ten most wanted ‘white collar criminals’ list.
The businessman, known to his clients as Bobby, opened the Emporio Motor Group in New Jersey in 2013 and maintained a high profile. He appeared on US reality series The real Housewives of New Jersey and counted members of the cast among his clients.
He has been accused of a massive fraud involving super cars including Lamborghinis, Porsches and rolls-royces.
He is alleged to have obtained loans from a bank for cars that he never delivered but for which the purchaser was still responsible.
He is also said to have obtained loans for cars that were delivered, but for which neither he nor Emporio had title documents. As a result, the purchasers of these cars were liable for the loan, but could not register the vehicles.
He has been charged with five counts of wire fraud and is said to have fraudulently obtained 21 loans totalling more than £1.3million. Each count of wire fraud is punishable by a maximum potential penalty of 20 years in prison and a fine of £195,000.
Since the charges were brought, investigators say they have identified 75 more victims.
Khan appeared on American TV in November to say he wanted to surrender but claimed his offers were ignored by prosecutors.
In a video phone interview with the Fox News network, Khan said he had been in hiding in a country which has no extradition treaty with the US. He said he would hand himself in if his wife and two daughters were flown back to America with him.
Khan was born in Edinburgh to Pakistani parents and moved to the US more than 20 years ago. The FBI tried to arrest him at his New Jersey home in October 2014 but could not find him.