Local Car Dealer Accused Of Stealing Hundreds From Customers
PITTSBURGH (KDKA) – A local car dealer is in serious trouble.
Authorities say he stole hundreds of dollars from his customers and left them without valid registration paperwork.
State Police say Phillip Vixman started ripping off his customers of Penn Avenue Auto Sales two years ago.
Vixman, who owned the Wilkinsburg business, would reportedly sell a person a car and then charge them the fees to make it legal with the state.
Little did the buyer know, Vixman never submitted the appropriate paperwork with PennDOT to make the deal legal.
"What they were doing is they would have their pink slip and their temporary tag until that would run out, but there was no record of any transaction so they weren't able to get a new registration plate for their vehicle," Trooper Robin Mungo said.
The buyer wouldn't know they'd been scammed until they went to get a permanent plate. By that point, they couldn't get their car inspected or even drive it legally on the roads.
The cases started to quickly pile up.
Police say there are 40-plus victims already and suspect there may be more. If you bought a car from Penn Avenue Auto Sales and feel you may have been victimized, you're urged to contact the Vehicle Fraud Unit of the State Police.
The business is currently closed and was set to go up for sheriff's sale Monday.
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