Jailed, car scam Scot who was on FBI’s most wanted list
A SCOTS businessman who evaded the FBI for five years has been jailed over a £480,000 luxury car scam.
Afzal Khan, pictured, fled the US after being put on the crime agency’s most wanted list for swindling customers and financial firms at his New Jersey car dealership.
The 40-year-old, who was born in Edinburgh, handed himself in to authorities in the United Arab Emirates in February 2020.
He admitted a fraud involving supercars including Lamborghinis, Porsches and Rolls-Royces.
At the US District Court of New Jersey on Wednesday, Khan was handed a two-year jail term and ordered to forfeit £955,000. He will also be supervised for three years after his release. The flamboyant businessman, known to his clients as Bobby, opened the Emporio Motor Group in New Jersey in 2013.
In an interview he gave when he launched his car dealership, Khan said: ‘This is a boutique dealership. It’s like walking into a Gucci store.’
He appeared on reality TV series The Real Housewives of New Jersey and counted members of the show’s cast among his clients. The court heard he obtained loans from a bank for cars that he never delivered, but for which the purchaser was still responsible.
He also received loans for cars that were delivered, but for which neither he nor Emporio had title documents. Purchasers were liable for the loan, but could not register the vehicles.
Khan offered to sell cars for customers, and then neither returned the cars nor provided any money from car sales. He admitted he exposed the bank involved to a potential loss of at least £480,000 between December 2013 and September 2014.
Khan moved to the US more than 20 years ago. Police and the FBI attempted to arrest him in October 2014, but could not locate him and he was placed on the FBI’s Ten Most Wanted ‘white collar criminals’ list.
In a statement, the US Attorney’s Office for the District of New Jersey said: ‘An Atlantic County, New Jersey, man was sentenced to 24 months in prison for his role in engaging in a pattern of fraudulent activity through his auto dealership. Afzal Khan, aka ‘Bobby Khan’, 40, previously pleaded guilty to wire fraud.’