Auto Dealer’s “Investment Program” Duped Over 65 Victims with Fabricated Contracts
A Greenville man who promised high returns on auto loans will be spending the next five years and three months behind bars. Willard Timothy Sutton, 64, was sentenced Monday to 63 months in prison and three years of supervised release for orchestrating a massive mail fraud scheme that defrauded more than 65 victims out of nearly $9 million.
Sutton, who previously pleaded guilty on February 26, 2025, was also ordered to pay $8,986,162 in restitution to those he swindled.
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“The defendant orchestrated a complex and brazen Ponzi scheme that exploited the trust of hard-working North Carolinians, based upon his own greed,” stated Acting U.S. Attorney Daniel P. Bubar. “We are committed to holding those accountable who prey on the citizens in our communities for personal gain.”
Sutton’s long-standing business, Greenville Auto World, LLC (GAW), a “buy here, pay here” car dealership, was the front for his multi-year deception. Between at least 2019 and 2023, Sutton used an “investment program” to solicit funds from unsuspecting individuals. GAW specialized in financing vehicles for customers with poor or no credit, typically at high interest rates. Sutton sold these finance contracts to outside investors, promising them a share of the returns.
However, as federal investigators uncovered, Sutton’s business was in deep financial trouble. To conceal GAW’s failing state, he began operating a classic Ponzi scheme. He would sell legitimate loan contracts to some investors, then create false and fabricated versions of the same contracts to sell to other investors, all without their knowledge. He even forged customer signatures and provided fake title documents to make the fraudulent investments appear legitimate. The money from new investors was then used to pay off earlier ones, perpetuating the deception.
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“Mr. Sutton ran a local business for many years, purporting to help those with poor or no credit get much needed vehicle loans. When he ran into financial trouble, he chose to commit a federal crime rather than admit his business was failing,” said James C. Barnacle Jr., the FBI Acting Special Agent in Charge in North Carolina. “The FBI hopes today’s sentence and restitution offers some sense of justice to those who trusted him to legitimately invest their hard-earned money.”
By 2022, facing mounting debts, Sutton even solicited some BHPH investors to help finance GAW’s vehicle inventory, falsely claiming their funds would be used for car purchases when they were, in fact, simply fueling the Ponzi scheme.
Federal investigators estimate that Sutton collected over $63 million in investor funds during the scheme, resulting in the staggering $9 million in net losses for his victims. This sentencing aims to provide some measure of justice for those who placed their trust, and their money, in Willard Timothy Sutton.
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