Auto Theft Charges Brought Against Pair of Fla. Men

The Florida Office of Statewide Prosecution has charged Ramy Vaserman and Joseph Korinek with five counts each of grand theft after the two allegedly bought 31 cars at auto auctions using bad checks.

An investigation by the Florida Department of Insurance and the Broward County Auto Theft Task Force led to the charges.

Vaserman and Korinek reportedly operated as authorized representatives of H & E Enterprises Inc. (H & E) of Ft. Lauderdale, an automobile wholesaler insured by Nations Surety Company under a surety bond issued between May 1, 1998, and April 30, 1999. Bond coverage is required by the Auto Auction Dealer Association for any wholesaler wanting to purchase vehicles at an auction in Florida. Because of the surety bond, auto auction houses accepted all checks issued on H & E Enterprises’ account.

From May 20 to May 22, 1998, H & E reportedly purchased 31 cars from six different auto auctions from Miami to Orlando. The total cost of these cars was $612,783. Investigators determined Vaserman and Korinek allegedly bought the cars with checks from H & E’s bank account when they knew they had insufficient funds to cover the checks. Besides securing a bond, investigators said the alleged scheme also included fraudulently inflating the balance on the H & E bank account by depositing a total of $300,720 with advance knowledge that the deposits would not clear.

Additional arrests are pending.