A man managed to outsmart Tesla Inc, acquiring five electric vehicles without settling the complete payment, according to the Department of Justice.
What Happened: Michael Gonzalez, a 34-year-old from Vermont, cleverly manipulated Tesla’s payment system, securing vehicles worth over half a million dollars.
He later allegedly sold three of the vehicles, including a 2018 Model 3 and two Model Xs, collecting around $231,900.
When faced with an unsellable vehicle due to a missing ownership certificate, Gonzalez allegedly set the car on fire on a frozen lake. He subsequently filed an insurance claim for the torched Tesla, which was later denied, according to court records.
“Michael took full responsibility for his actions,” his attorney said to MarketWatch.
The 34-year-old’s tactics reportedly involved providing Tesla with banking details of accounts that were nearly empty. Before Tesla could detect the payment discrepancies, Gonzalez had already taken possession of the vehicles.
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Gonzalez also used various aliases for the transactions, including using names of personal acquaintances.
Additionally, Gonzalez is accused of providing misleading information to the Vermont Department of Motor Vehicles to acquire the car titles.
After his fifth such attempt in 2019, Tesla initiated repossession of one Model X. However, Gonzalez successfully evaded the repossession, stashing the car in a storage facility.
Following his guilty plea to charges related to possessing and disposing of stolen vehicles, he was sentenced to four years in prison. The court also ordered Gonzalez to pay $493,043.93 in restitution to Tesla and forfeit $231,900 to the government.
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