Even when a car thief is caught, two Westchester Range Rover dealerships have discovered, it is not easy to reclaim ownership.
Last year, a Brooklyn man who created a false identity and had a thing about Range Rovers, drove away in an Evoque “purchased” from Jaguar Land Rover New Rochelle and a Velar obtained from Jaguar Land Rover White Plains.
The buyer, Michael Ray Jordan, financed the full $64,243 cost of the 2023 Evoque and the $61,661 cost of the 2020 Velar with six-year loans from Wells Fargo Auto Finance, according to court records.
The dealers matched Jordan’s South Carolina driver’s license, a passport and Social Security card to records from credit agencies, filled out the car titles in Jordan’s name and listed Wells Fargo as lien holder.
Wells Fargo eventually flagged the sales as fraudulent, based on identity theft, and demanded that the dealerships buy back the cars.
Meanwhile, the Evoque was involved in two accidents in New York City, including a hit-and-run, two weeks after the car was stolen, in which a pedestrian was injured. The car also was cited in multiple parking summonses and red light camera violations.
DMV investigator Andrew Steiner tracked down Jordan in Brooklyn in July 2023 and charged him with grand larceny. Except he is actually Norris Williams, and the real Michael Jordan in South Carolina was in the process of  trying to clear his credit record of false purchases in his name.
Williams confessed to stealing both cars, according to a police report, and “stated to the arresting officer that his job was to purchase the vehicles from the dealerships and deliver the cars and then he would get paid. He said he does not know where the vehicles are.”
The Evoque was recovered on July 17, 2023, and the Velar was found this past Jan. 11.
The dealerships got their Range Rovers back but they still had a problem. Cars may not be operated on public highways without clean titles.
On March 29, Jaguar Land Rover White Plains petitioned Westchester Supreme Court to order the DMV to transfer the “Jordan” title to the dealership.
On July 9 – 71 weeks after the car was stolen and more than three months after the dealer petitioned the court – a judge ordered the DMV to issue the Velar title to the dealership.
On Aug. 8 – 78 weeks after the Evoque was stolen and 55 weeks after the car was found – Jaguar Land Rover New Rochelle petitioned the court for the right to the title and ownership of the Range Rover. The case is pending.
