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The operator of a Lawrence used car dealership was arraigned in federal court on charges of defrauding banks and credit unions in connection with an auto loan scheme.
Rolando E. Estrella, 32, of Dracut, was arraigned in U.S. District Court in Providence on Wednesday and ordered detained. He allegedly participated in a wide-reaching conspiracy to defraud financial institutions in several states, including Massachusetts and Rhode Island, by obtaining car loans secured with stolen personal identifying information and fraudulent documents, according to a statement from the Rhode Island U.S. attorney’s office.
According to the statement, Estrella and others allegedly used stolen identification information to open accounts with banks and credit unions. Using that information along with counterfeited documents, including automobile titles, Estrella and others applied for used car and truck loans.
The proceeds were deposited into bank accounts opened in the names of sellers created for the conspiracy and then quickly withdrawn, according to the statement.
According to the indictment, banks and credit unions affected by the conspiracy, which lasted from 2013 through 2018, included TD Bank, KeyBank, Metro Credit Union, Hanscom Federal Credit Union, Digital Federal Credit Union, Direct Federal Credit Union and NESC Federal Credit Union.
An arrest warrant was issued for Estrella on Dec. 17 after a federal grand jury returned a ten-count indictment charging him with conspiracy to commit bank fraud, aggravated identity theft, fraudulent use of a Social Security number and seven counts of bank fraud. He surrendered to the U.S. Marshals Service in Rhode Island on Wednesday, according to the U.S. attorney’s office.
Until recently, Estrella was the operator of Estrella National Auto LLC, a used car dealership in Lawrence.
Estrella’s arrest marks the latest in a series made by the Social Security Office of Inspector General and the United States Secret Service involving members of a fraud ring operating throughout the northeast United States. Octavio Andres Difo-Castro, 29, of Edgewater, N.J., was the admitted leader of an organization, according to a previous statement from the U.S. attorneys office. He is scheduled for sentencing next month.
