PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — A Philadelphia used car salesman has been arrested and charged for a sales scheme that went on for nearly four years.
Edward Scott Rock, 47, is facing mail and wire fraud charges for a “non-delivery sales scheme” where he accepted payments for vehicles from hundreds of people but never completed his side of the transaction: delivering the cars.
Between 2019 and 2023, Rock would get used cars from auctions, then list and advertise them online, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office. They say most of the cars Rock would sell were ones made for people with wheelchairs or disabilities.
People would then see the advertisement and go through with the purchase. During the transaction, Rock would agree to deliver the car, then never do so, pocketing the money.
He ran this scheme through 36 states, targeting 120 people and draining them of $2.5 million.
On some occasions, Rock would even sell the same car to multiple people, like the wheelchair-accessible 2017 Ford T150 van he sold to 13 different buyers in the span of 11 months — during which, he collected more than $260,000.
The U.S. Attorney’s Office says Rock did deliver one car to one buyer, but it lacked the proper title.
If convicted, Rock faces up to 170 years in prison.