Osceola County used car dealership owner arrested on charges of defrauding client
A candidate for Osceola County Commission was arrested Friday and accused of defrauding a client and falsifying credit documents.
Tony Ferentinos, 67, faces charges of grand theft, scheming to defraud, and using an invalid car title.
He is one of four candidates running for the District 3 Osceola County Commission seat, records show.
Deputies accused Ferentinos of falsifying credit applications and pay stubs to help buyers qualify for bank loans, sheriff’s spokeswoman Twis Lizasuain said.
The investigation into Ferentinos’ business began when a man, whom the officials did not identify, told deputies he was defrauded while trying to sell his car in early 2015, Lizasuain said.
The man’s friend, David Cruz, offered to sell the car for him through Ferentinos’ business, T.J. Auto Sales. Cruz took the man’s car and title, Lizasuain said.
About a month later, Cruz told the man his car had sold for $8,700, Lizasuain said.
The man, who did not sign a title transferring ownership of his car, went to T.J. Auto Sales and asked Ferentinos for the money, Lizasuain said.
Ferentinos told the man his assets were frozen because of another investigation involving Cruz.
He could not pay him, Lizasuain said.
Cruz was arrested March 20, 2015, and charged with dealing in stolen property, obtaining a car title fraudulently and possession or sale of a forged vehicle title, records show.
Deputies said Ferentinos reassigned vehicle ownership to his dealership using falsified documents, Lizasuain said.
Ferentinos was arrested in 2006, when he was running for the District 2 commission seat, and accused of failing to pay more than $65,000 in sales tax from his dealership.
“It’s an honest mistake,” he said at the time.
“You can go into any business in Osceola County; I’m sure you’re going to find discrepancies.”
A circuit court judge acquitted him of the charges in 2007, saying the state did not present an adequate case.