Goldstein Investigation: Lease Takeovers

Note: The following is a transcription of the story that aired.

"Mr. Hull David Goldstein with CBS2 News. Remember me, we did a story on you awhile ago?"

"Yeah"

Geoffrey hull remembers the story we did on him ten years ago. After it aired, he was convicted of two counts of grand theft auto and served 15 months in prison for what the prosecutor called a "slick" "high tech" and "very sophisticated fraud" with expensive cars.

Hull wasn't accused of stealing them off the streets--but rather telling owners he'd find someone to take over their leases--only to take the car and not pay.

Now we found him back wheeling and dealing with expensive cars---with some customers making the same allegations.

"Did you consider your car stolen?"

"Yes. At that point, yes"

Andrey Bogan of New York thinks hull stole his $85,000 Mercedes GLE. He wanted to get out of his lease and last year put an ad on a popular website which connects owners to buyers.

Within days he says Hull called to say he'd act as the middleman to find someone to take over the lease.

"He said, oh, Andrey come on. Andrey, let's get it. Let's get it done. We're put your car in our parking lot."

He signed a contract with Hull's company Haven Transfer, which says they will make the payments on the vehicle until the lease is transferred.

But after a few months he says Hull stopped paying.

So he tracked the car with a Mercedes app. And discovered it wasn't in a parking lot, but at someone's house in Las Vegas.

He found this picture on the homeowner's Facebook page posing with "his" car, saying, "This is how i'm pulling up on y'all this summer."

"And everyone was posting back saying, "yeah that's nice."

"You know, you just kinda like rolling here. And i'm looking here and i'm paying for this car, and this guy's rolling."

Bogan shot video when he tracked his car to a lot in Hawthorne and took it back. And he's not the only one.

"Why did you want to get rid of the car?"

"We had a newborn."

Ignacio Martinez of panorama city wanted to get out of his lease for this 2017 Tesla. And also signed up with hull's haven transfer.

"He told me the first 30 days it will sit in my lot until i find a qualified buyer."

But he too tracked the car on his app.

"You could see it moving."

And later found out hull had rented it!

"Yeah, i just feel cheated and lied to."

He tracked it to west Hollywood and took it back.

"So, where's your car?

"I think it's in Las Vegas."

Dr. Costantino Mendieta of Miami also tracked his $160,000 BMW i-8 to Las Vegas on his app.

"Was your car supposed to be in Las Vegas?

"No, the cars supposed to be in Los Angeles."

He too signed a contract with Hull's haven transfer. He says Hull hasn't paid the full monthly amount and doesn't know who has his car.

"He's renting the car and making money that way."

None of our owners knew there's language in the contract which says hull can rent out the cars until the lease is transferred. But the owners want their missing money.

"Isn't it the same thing that you were doing  in 2010?"

The straight answer is no.

I know that's the narrative that you guys are trying to create isn't the same mistake you made back in 2010 and here we are in 2019?

Hull maintains what he's doing right now isn't against the law. But as far as not paying the present leases in full..

"Are you paying all the lease payments as you are supposed to on all of these cars?"

"To the best of our ability."

"To the best of your ability? That leaves it open to - that you're not paying it."

"Excuse me."

"To the best of our ability."

"I had a 2008 Mercedes Benz."

But Marcia Cooper whose case was one of the one's in which hull was convicted--says it seems like the same thing that happened to her.

"I think this needs to stop.  Because you know because there's a lot of people, it's going to hurt them financially."