Dealership Sales Manager Steals Identity, Could Face 40 Years In Prison

A car shopper in Maryland had her identify stolen by a car salesman. Brian Armstrong, a 45-year-old salesman at Manhattan Import Cars stole the identity of a local woman and purchased a vehicle in her name. The vehicle was a White 2014 Range Rover Sport. The asking price was $75,000, which Armstrong paid in full. He then shipped the vehicle to China for $7,000, where it was sold for $225,000.

Armstrong is the former General Sales Manager of Manhattan Import Cars. Court Documents say that the former GSM made $200,000 per year in his position, renting a $2,500 per month apartment. WJLA reported that Capt. Paul Starks of the Montgomery County Police Department spokesman said, “It’s a big mark-up, with somebody on the inside at a supervisory or management level, it made it that much easier to get done and that much harder for us to detect.” In the realm of his fraud, Armstrong made a miscalculation. He should have known when he purchased a vehicle in someone else’s name that they would get the title in the mail.

That’s exactly what happened to Armstrong’s identify theft victim. She received a Maryland title in the mail for a 2014 Range Rover. She reportedly hasn’t purchased a vehicle in a number of years and immediately contacted authorities. After an eight-month investigation Armstrong was charged with fraud, forgery and taking of a motor vehicle. He could be facing 40 years in prison.

A report from WJLA indicated that this type of unlawful foreign sales is common, as there is demand for higher end vehicles like the Range Rover in countries like China, Russia and parts of Africa. Is there anything more that this luxury dealer could have done to keep personal information safe, or is there simply a lot of trust that comes with being a general sales manager, trust that Armstrong betrayed?