Police have filed charges against a 67-year-old Las Cruces man suspected of portraying himself as an employee of a local car dealership and cheating several individuals out of cash he suggested would pay for ‘flipping’ used vehicles.
Gary D. Sugamosto, 67, is charged with five felony counts of fraud. He is charged with two counts of fraud over $2,500, one count of fraud over $20,000, one count of fraud over $500 and one count of fraud by worthless check.
A warrant has been obtained for Sugamosto’s arrest. His whereabouts are unknown at this time.
Las Cruces Police detectives learned that in 2015 Sugamosto approached several individuals, on separate dates, and suggested he could purchase used Jeeps and other automobiles at a drastically discounted price and ‘flip’ the vehicles in order to make a profit. Sugamosto entered into contracts with at least four individuals who believed the salesman would use cash they gave him to purchase vehicles. Each of the victims believed Sugamosto would share with them the proceeds from the sales of the vehicles.
The individuals each became suspicious when Sugamosto failed to repay them or, in at least one case, provide two Jeeps as promised. Sugamosto apparently told victims that he represented Base Auto Sales but the owner of the dealership vehemently denied that assertion.
Investigators learned that Sugamosto swindled $1,000 from one victim, $4,000 from a different victim, $16,942 from another victim, and $37,750 from yet another. He also gave one victim a $26,000 check which was later learned to be drawn on a closed bank account.
Detectives have reason to believe there are additional victims to this scam. Anyone who may have fallen victim to such a scam is asked to call police at (575) 526-0795 or send an email to lcpdtips@las-cruces.org.
Anyone with information on Sugamosto’s whereabouts may call Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-8477 or send a tip by text message to CRIMES (274637), keyword LCTIPS. Las Cruces Crime Stoppers is offering a reward of up to $1,000 for information that helps lead to his arrest.
Information from Las Cruces Police