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Prosecutor: Leonia Luxury Car Dealer From Ridgefield Pocketed $1M+

LEONIA, N.J. – A Leonia luxury car dealer from Ridgefield pocketed more than $1 million in loans, said authorities who arrested him on Tuesday in Englewood.

Antonio L. Gutierrez

Antonio L. Gutierrez

Photo Credit: MUGSHOT: Courtesy BERGEN COUNTY PROSECUTOR

Antonio L. Gutierrez, 39, who owns and operates The Luxury Haus, defaulted on more than $5 million in loans, prompting the floor plan lender to alert authorities, Bergen County Prosecutor Gurbir S. Grewal said.

“As a result of an action to foreclose on the dealership, the lender suspected that proceeds in excess of $1,000,000 were missing and/or had been stolen,” Grewal said.

An investigation by members of the prosecutor’s Financial Crimes Unit and Leonia police found that Gutierrez “received the proceeds from the sales of numerous motor vehicles and failed to report the sales or remit the monies, as contracted, to the lender.”

He then “acted to conceal the proceeds of his illicit activity by completing transfers of the monies to bank accounts unknown to the lender and unrelated to the initial sales transactions.”

Gutierrez then used the money for himself, Grewal said.

Detectives charged Gutierrez with theft, money laundering and defrauding secured creditors. He was released pending a Feb. 1 appearance in Central Judicial Processing Court in Hackensack.

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