MEMPHIS, Tenn. — Luxury car salesman Michael Brown got an 80-month sentence after swindling clients out of $1,984,803, according to a statement by the U.S. Department of Justice on Wednesday.
Brown used funds he received from sales through Valkry Corporation, of which he is the owner and CEO, for personal benefit or additional business expenses instead of fulfilling the orders.
One victim, Macau-based luxury automobile dealership M Super Car, placed a $1,268,000 order for 17 vehicles. It sent multiple wire transfers to Valkry Corporation’s First Tennessee account, but it received neither the cars nor a refund.
Brown also duped KIS Cars. The U.K.-based company ordered multiple cars it did not receive, and Brown only provided a refund of less than 4 percent of the purchase price.
He didn’t only defraud businesses; he also failed to deliver a car to a personal customer in August 2013 despite taking his money.
Brown had kept this up for three years, from October 2010 to September 2013, and pled guilty in February to two counts of wire fraud and one count of mail fraud.
Getting caught didn’t deter him — in the same month, former NBA star Julius “Dr. J” Erving wired Brown a quarter million dollars for a Rolls Royce. Erving never saw the car or his money again.
The Memphis division of the FBI investigated the case, which ended in Brown’s sentencing Tuesday.
