At about 12:30 p.m. on Wednesday, May 16, owner of Adams Motor Company in Denison, Ida Grove and Manning was taken into custody and booked into the Crawford County jail on 11 counts of first-degree theft, three counts of second-degree theft, one count of fraudulent practices and one count of ongoing criminal conduct. The arrest was actually made by the Iowa Department of Transportation (DOT) Bureau of Investigation and Identity Protection, and their Deputy Director, Ryan Ridout, says it was an audit that brought about the charges.
He says there were some specific areas where red flags were raised in the audit that was initiated on March 22.
The audit encompassed all three locations, but Ridout says the majority of issues were found at the Denison dealership. He adds that some vehicles were also sold out of trust. He explains that Adams was getting backing from a lending institution to purchase the vehicle and place it for sale.
The local investigator with the Bureau was actually contacted by one of the treasurer’s offices after receiving title paperwork to transfer title to a consumer. Instead, the dealer came back and picked up the paperwork because they did not have the funds for the transfer. That initiated the investigation and the charges Ridout says are at the felony level.
For the most part, according to Ridout, the investigation has concluded. Adams was released from the county jail after posting a $10,000 bond.
