Tracy auto dealer indicted on bank fraud charges

A former part-owner and general manager of a Tracy auto dealership has been indicted by a federal grand jury on charges he defrauded a bank of $2.5 million.He obtained a $2.5 million line of credit from the bank as part of an agreement to buy vehicles from wholesalers and then pay back the bank with money made from the vehicles' resale, prosecutors said in a news release. The charges allege that he never bought many of the vehicles and instead used the money for business expenses and other business ventures. Kraut told his employees to create fake vehicle invoices and checks to auto wholesalers to fool the bank into believing he was using the money appropriately, prosecutors said. Posted in: Internal Fraud