Santa Fe luxury car salesman accused of embezzling from customer
A longtime salesman at a Santa Fe luxury car dealership is accused of defrauding and embezzling more than $20,000 from a customer, according to an arrest warrant affidavit filed in Santa Fe Magistrate Court on Friday.
Tony Ramat of Albuquerque is suspected of charging more than $25,000 in transactions to the man’s bank account, state police reported.
Ramat was charged with three counts, including fraud of more than $20,000, theft of identity and embezzlement of more than $20,000, according to a criminal complaint. He was held at the Santa Fe Adult Detention Center on Monday in lieu of bond. Court records didn’t list an attorney for him.
Ramat, who said he has worked at Lexus of Santa Fe for 18 years, told state police that he and the customer had a verbal agreement that Ramat would provide groceries and meals for the man and calculate how much he was owed.
The customer denied any verbal agreement was in place. He said when Ramat would randomly call him asking if he needed anything, he assumed the gestures were “out of the kindness of [Ramat’s] heart,” according to police reports.
The customer said he paid Ramat in cash on a handful of occasions, including when Ramat and his family helped with labor around his house, according to the affidavit. Also, when Ramat was low on income and asked for money, the customer said he would give a couple of hundred dollars to him, according to the affidavit.
On one instance, the customer said he allowed Ramat to borrow his credit card to buy window reflectors. He said there was no other time when Ramat would have had access to the card, according to the affidavit.
Ramat told state police he had memorized the man’s credit card information when he had set up an account to make online car payments, but he denied using the card for personal use.
Ramat confirmed it’s against his company’s protocol to engage in personal relationships with clients, the affidavit stated.
When the victim attempted to confront Ramat, Ramat denied stealing from him, the affidavit stated. Ramat told the client his brother was a hacker at a bank in California and could help resolve the issue, according to the affidavit.
Statements from the customer’s bank, Del Norte Credit Union, confirmed the suspect had made multiple transactions using the man’s account without permission, including two redundant transactions with Amazon.com and Albuquerque Water Utility Authority, the warrant stated.
Messages left for management at the car dealership were not returned on Monday.