Skip title scheme defrauds North Carolina DMV

A Lexington, North Carolina, man was recently sentenced to 45 months in prison after being charged with an elaborate scheme to sell motor vehicles while operating a DMV tag office, the Dispatch reports. Danny Michael Hancock, who ran a DMV license plate agency in Thomasville, falsified vehicle titles so the DMV wouldn't discover that he was also selling cars on the side. Hancock committed identity theft by using the names of vehicle purchasers and salesmen without their knowledge. "Oftentimes, identities were stolen to make the paperwork go through," said Tommy Evans , a retired inspector with the state Department of Motor Vehicles License and Theft Bureau, as quoted by the High Point Enterprise. "There were false notaries and ... a multitude of violations that took place." Hancock's contract with the DMV prohibits him from acting as a motor vehicle dealer without a license under North Carolina law. U.S. District Judge N. Carlton Tilley Jr. ordered Hancock to pay back the amount he made during the scheme - just over $607,000 - as well as $15,000 in restitution to the DMV. The News-Record adds that Hancock allegedly sold 291 motor vehicles for a total of $1.2 million between 2004 and 2007.