Treadz Auto owner sentenced to 3 years in jail for defrauding customers

The owner of a now-defunct auto consignment company has been sentenced to three years in jail after pleading guilty to defrauding Calgary car owners out of more than $2 million.

The sentence was handed down to Sean O'Brien, 49, on Friday.

Last month, O'Brien pleaded guilty to two counts of fraud over $5,000. He was facing 164 fraud and theft charges in connection to his vehicle consignment company, Treadz Auto Group.

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He had been charged with 89 counts of fraud over $5,000, 71 counts of theft over $5,000, and one global charge each of trafficking in property obtained by crime, using a forged document, counterfeiting a mark and fraud over $5,000.

Upfront fees

Nearly 100 people agreed to sell their vehicles on consignment through Treadz Auto Group from 2011 to 2014, each of them paying $299 and signing a contract.

Treadz failed to compensate the owners, however, after the cars were sold to unsuspecting buyers.

"Many of the people selling their cars, taking them in for consignment, didn't own them outright," said prosecutor Steven Johnston during the court proceedings.

"So you ended up with victims where they're continuing to pay for the car that they don't own."

Victim impacts

Twenty victim impact statements were filed with the court, but police and prosecutors struggled to make contact with all of O'Brien's victims.

One woman described a "gigantic financial stress" with another victim writing that his personal credit was "horribly affected" by the Treadz fraud.

The owner of the now-defunct company which was located on Fairmount Drive S.E. also re-registered dozens of vehicles in the company's name using fraudulent documents in order to secure a loan from a credit company for nearly $500,000, which was never repaid.

Court was told Treadz operated successfully and honestly for six years until a number of investors backed out, forcing O'Brien to remortgage his home and "the house of cards came falling down," said his lawyer, Karanpal Aujla.

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With files from Meghan Grant