7/20/2023 by the Cuyahoga County Prosecutors Office
CLEVELAND - Cuyahoga County Prosecutor Michael C. O’Malley announced that a Cuyahoga County grand jury has returned five indictments charging 39 individuals for stealing and/or forging car titles from South Carolina and Georgia then using them to sell stolen high-end vehicles.
From January 2021 to March 2023, a total of 34 vehicles were stolen across the states of Ohio, Pennsylvania, Michigan, Georgia, New York, and California. After the vehicles were stolen, these individuals would put new VIN numbers on the vehicles that matched the vehicle description. After they would take stolen titles from Georgia and forged titles from South Carolina to multiple Ohio BMVs. They would use these stolen and/or forged titles to then acquire an Ohio title.
After the VIN and Ohio title matched, they would sell the high-end vehicles for a significantly less amount than the vehicle’s sticker price. 33 individuals were indicted for taking part in title fraud and six individuals were indicted for receiving stolen property.
The investigation is ongoing and being conducted by 27 local, state, and federal law enforcement agencies.