6 Facing Loan Sharking Charges In Car Title Scam

LOS ANGELES (CBSLA.com) — Six people were facing loan sharking charges Friday for allegedly running a series of unlicensed finance companies offering car title loans.

According to the Los Angeles County District Attorney's Office, Alex Loxley, 39, of Santa Monica; Daniel Cool Star, 33, of Los Angeles; Mikayel Simonyan, 31, of North Hollywood; David Watkins, 34, of Beaumont; Walter Reyes-Illescas, 28, of Los Angeles; and Gustavo Aguirre, 33, of Glendale allegedly offered exorbitant car title loans to unsuspecting customers who often fell behind on payments and had their vehicles unlawfully repossessed.

Authorities explained that many of the victims involved in this scam were Spanish-speaking who had loan terms explained to them in Spanish, however, were asked to sign contracts in English.

According to the district attorney, the companies were not properly licensed or bonded, which made every loan have an interest rate over the legal maximum, making it an illegal loan.

In some cases, interest charged on the loans was often more than 150 percent, officials added.

When consumers could not make their payments, their vehicles were repossessed. In some cases, victims were told they had to pay a premium to get their cars back.

Each defendant is charged with one count of conspiracy to commit loan sharking, which carries a five year prison term, officials said.

The district attorney said Loxley, Star, Simonyan, Watkins and Reyes-Illescas have each entered not guilty pleas.

Aguirre is scheduled to be arraigned alongside other defendants who are scheduled to appear in court on Tuesday.