Fraud at Five Towns Mitsubishi

Six-figure fine for misleading, unfair practices

By Jewish Star Staff

If you believe you were one of the people allegedly ripped off at Five Towns Mitsubishi, you have until August 5th to stake your claim by contacting the office of New York State Attorney General Andrew Cuomo.

On Monday, Cuomo’s office announced that the dealership on Burnside Avenue in Inwood would pay $150,000 in restitution, penalties and costs for scamming would-be car buyers with a deceptive scratch-off sweepstakes and other underhanded business practices.

“This dealership lured consumers to their business through a bogus offer,” Cuomo said, and “continued deceiving customers” throughout the car-buying process.

The dealership, owned by Lester Wu, Vladimir Zana and Clara Shvartser, mailed a scratch-off game called Dash for Cash to thousands of homes. Nearly all the cards appeared to be winning entries for a vacation or a $1,000 shopping spree, Cuomo said, but, in reality, extended blackout periods or high shipping and handling costs made the prizes nearly worthless.

Careful car buyers need not have waited for the attorney general’s report to see suggestions that they’d best shop elsewhere for new wheels. A consumer website called ripoffreport.com listed a complaint from an Oceanside woman who claimed that after buying a new car at Five Towns Mitsubishi, she discovered that she’d only been credited for half of the $9,000 trade-in she negotiated.

According to the attorney general’s office, Five Towns Mitsubishi also fooled customers into signing purchase documents in the belief they were signing forms to claim vehicles won in the sweepstakes.

They are also accused of falsely promising to allow refinancing months after purchase, and of adding costly items like GPS systems and service warranties to purchase documents without customers’ consent.

Attempts to contact the dealership were unsuccessful.

If you believe you were a victim, call the attorney general’s Nassau regional office at (516) 248-3301 before August 5.