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Teterboro Used Car Manager Gets 10 Years In $1.4M Scam

TETERBORO, N.J. -- The manager of a defunct Teterboro used car dealership was sentenced in Hackensack to 10 years in prison for his role as the “point man” in a $1.4 million luxury car scam, authorities announced Thursday.

Hector Marquez

Hector Marquez

Photo Credit: COURTESY: NJ Attorney General

Hector Marquez, a 44-year-old Monroe, N.Y. resident, also was ordered to pay $110,370 in restitution.

Marquez, the general manager of D.I.B Leasing, pleaded guilty in Superior Court in Hackensack last July to money laundering and corporate misconduct in exchange for the sentence.

He also pleaded guilty to insurance fraud in a separate indictment involving a $139,000 Bentley sold at his dealership and later torched and reported stolen for insurance purposes.

A former company salesman, John Jarzabek of Hudson County, got four years in prison in January for his role in torching the Bentley, which he’d reported stolen.

Last week, the dealership’s finance manager, 52-year-old Paul Russo of Scotch Plains, was sentenced to six years in prison and ordered to pay $150,267 in restitution as part of a plea deal.

Marquez on Wednesday received 10 years from Superior Court Judge Susan Steele for each plea, which he’ll serve together, Attorney General Christopher Porrino said.

Marquez “was the point man in a criminal conspiracy in which banks were duped into approving auto loans for customers whose income levels did not qualify them for financing on the luxury vehicles,” Porrino said. “He then furthered his criminal involvement by helping one of his buyers to unload a pricey vehicle by committing insurance fraud.”

The concurrent 10-year sentence “closes the book on this criminal conspiracy and sends a message that we will not tolerate anyone using fraud to exploit the insurance or banking industries,” the attorney general said.

Marquez and Russo were the last two defendants to be sentenced in the D.I.B. Leasing scheme, which also involved the dealership’s owner, title manager, loan applicant assistant, and bookkeeper.

Deputy Attorney General Colin Keiffer represented the state at the sentencing.

The others:

• Patsy Galasso, 76, of Cliffside Park, owner of D.I.B. Leasing pleaded guilty to third degree money laundering and was sentenced to five years of probation;

• Jennifer Perez, 31, of Union City, who assisted with loan applications was admitted into Pre-Trial Intervention program last August;

• Michael Ricciardi, 54, of Wayne, who did bookkeeping for the dealership pleaded guilty to third degree trafficking in personal identifying information and was sentenced to four years of probation last December;

• Lisa Ghobrial, 49, of Ridgefield, the dealership’s title manager, pleaded guilty to third-degree misconduct by a corporate official and was sentenced to three years of probation;

• John Jarzabek, 27, of Harrison, pleaded guilty to second-degree insurance fraud and was sentenced to four years in prison in January;

• Chester Jarzabek, 64, of Harrison, was admitted into the Pre-Trial Intervention program last September;

• Anna Jarzabek, 62, of Harrison was admitted into the Pre-Trial Intervention program in January and ordered to pay $44,511.94 in restitution to TD Auto Finance.

Ricciardi was also charged in the separate indictment involving the scheme to falsify the insurance claim on the used Bentley, which was purchased at D.I.B. Leasing and then fraudulently reported stolen to an insurance company after it was torched. He pleaded guilty to third-degree conspiracy and was sentenced to four years of probation in December 2016.

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Some important cases have begun with anonymous tips, authorities said. People who are concerned about insurance cheating and have information about a fraud can report it anonymously by calling the toll-free hotline at 1-877-55-FRAUD, or visiting the Web site at www.NJInsurancefraud.org. Rewards are often offered.

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