Complaint Review: Fleet Export Inc.

I was recruited through an ad in the Wall Street Journal that said $5,000 for 5 hours work."  They were looking for people with a good credit rating to lease or finance a high-end car like a Range Rover, Mercedes, BMW, Maseratti, Porsche, etc. from a dealership using their credit card to make the down payment and the first lease payment.  They told me that they would then make two more lease payments on my $103,286 2017 Range Rover and then pay off the balance owed so that I could obtain the title to the car.  I would then sell the car to MND Enterprises which in turn would sell the car to Fleet Export, Inc. - both owned by Michael A. Downs - and the car would be sold in China for a big profit for Mike.

He failed to make lease payments 4, 5 or 6 on time after I sent him each invoice, texted, phoned and emailed him to do so.  He finally made all three of those payments.  He has not made payments 7, 8 or 9, nor has he made all of the auto insurance payments for which I have been receiving collection notices.  One of his employees advised me that Mike had arranged to have the Range Rover picked up by a trucker and had it transported to an unknown location in California.  I tried to get Mike to tell me where the car is being held and to make the lease payments and the insurance payments but he no longer answers his phone, answers my text messages or my emails.  He used to leave messages stating that "it was up to the capital company."

On November 20, 2018, Westchester Export Capital, LLC of 65 Court Street, Apt. 4, White Plains, NY 10601, filed a UCC-1 form to establish itself as a creditor and Mike and Christine Downs as debtors.  In essence, Mike turned his company over to Westchester to provide all of the financing on his cars.  They paid off some of the cars after ruining the credit rating of the senior citizens whose credit they used but they still have not paid off approximately 7 or 8 others that I know of, all of which were leased or financed the same way that mine was.  Westchester also refuses to communicate with our group.

Chase Bank provided the financing for many of the cars that were leased or financed in this way.  They want to be paid for the outstanding balances on the leases and financing or they would like to repossess the cars.  However, no one knows where the cars are being held.  I sent Mike Downs a demand letter giving him until May 7, 2018 to return the car to me or I will file charges against him for grand theft auto and fraud in the inducement.  I plan to file similar charges against Westchester Export Capital, LLC.

Before I entered into this agreement with Mike Downs, whom I have never met nor spoken to on the phone, I checked out this business online.  I found that it is perfectly legal to buy a car from a dealer and sell it to a domestic company.  It is not, however, legal to sell the car out of the country.  My plan was to sell the car to a licensed U. S. auto dealer, MND Enterprises, Inc., which was perfectly legal.  What MND did with the car was their business.

I highly recommend that anyone reading this report should not do business with Michael A. Downs, owner of these two companies, or Westchester Export Capital, LLC, since both have defrauded me and a dozen other senior citizens that I know of - there are undoubtedly many more like us - and they have ruined the outstanding credit rating that all of have established over the past 50 or 60+ years.