Mission Viejo Man to Be Tried on Theft-Embezzlement Counts

The owner of a defunct dealership in luxury used cars in Mission Viejo has been ordered to stand trial on 11 counts of grand theft and one count of embezzlement, stemming from an alleged scheme in which he sold cars he did not own.

The arraignment of Assadollah Shajary has been scheduled for April 21 in Central Municipal Court in Santa Ana, said JoAnn Black, supervisor of investigators for the Department of Motor Vehicles regional office in Santa Ana.

A single count of embezzlement that had been lodged against Shajary’s wife, Fatemeh, was dismissed, Black said.

Shajary operated Grand Auto Imports from 1983 to late 1987.

He and his wife were arrested at their Mission Viejo home in October after a DMV investigation showed that Shajary had bought vehicles from several other dealers, sold them from his own lot, then stopped payment on the checks he had issued to the original dealers. Total value of the cars was $158,000.

The embezzlement charge was filed because Shajary allegedly bought a used BMW from a dealer in south Orange County, used it to secure a bank loan in his wife’s name, then sold it to a retail customer at Grand Auto Imports without paying off the bank loan or telling the new buyer that the car was security for a loan.

Shajary has denied the allegations.