Man Arraigned in Connection Victimizing Six People and Evading Taxes Through His Operation of a Used Car Dealership
WOBURN – Middlesex District Attorney Marian Ryan, Massachusetts Department of Revenue Commissioner Geoffrey E. Snyder and Everett Chief of Police Steven Mazzie have announced that Clesio Beninca, 56 of Revere, was arraigned yesterday in Middlesex Superior Court on six counts of larceny over $1,200, being a common and notorious thief, two counts of tax evasion and malicious destruction of property in connection with his operation of Ferry Street Auto Sales, a used car dealership located in Everett, and Glendale Auto Brokers, another used car dealership he formerly operated in Everett.
Assistant Clerk Magistrate Daniel Flaherty set bail at $3,500 cash and ordered the defendant to surrender his passport and not apply for a new one, sign a waiver of rendition and restrict travel to the New England states. The next scheduled date in this case is April 25, 2022.
As a result of the joint investigation conducted by the Middlesex District Attorney’s Office, Everett Police, the Massachusetts Department of Revenue Criminal Investigations Bureau, and the Massachusetts Insurance Fraud Bureau it was discovered that Mr. Beninca had allegedly victimized six separate individuals through fraudulent operations at his used car dealership. These allegations include a pattern wherein the defendant sold cars to customers for one price but caused loan/financing applications to be filed with a lender, which reported the sale price as higher than it in fact was. This in turn caused false RMV-1 forms to be filed with the Massachusetts Registry of Motor Vehicles, which reported the sale prices as much lower than it in fact was.
The defendant also allegedly took over $70,000 from a victim who had invested with the defendant to purchase vehicles with a promise that the money would be paid back to her. The defendant instead sold the cars without remitting any money back to the victim. The defendant also on multiple occasions sold vehicles that had liens against the title rendering the vehicles unable to be registered or used by the new owners and on one occasion sold a victim’s vehicle at auction promising to remit the profits that instead were applied to the defendant’s outstanding debt with the auctioneers.
“This defendant is alleged to have repeatedly used his business to target and defraud victims and the People of the Commonwealth,” said District Attorney Ryan. “This defendant is charged with repeatedly being untruthful about vehicle sales and personally profiting from these schemes. His actions not only impacted victims financially but disrupted their everyday lives by leaving them without reliable transportation.”
“My compliments go to the investigators that pursued this matter and I’m glad we were able to hold Mr. Beninca accountable for taking advantage and betraying the trust of members of our immigrant community,” said Everett Police Chief Steven Mazzie.
In total it is alleged that the defendant defrauded the Commonwealth of $86,000 in sales tax in addition to having defrauded six individuals of over $130,000.
These charges are allegations and the defendant is innocent until proven guilty. The prosecutor assigned to this case is Graham Van Epps.