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Officers say businessman used customer's credit card to pay his billsJul 28, 2011 (The McDowell News - McClatchy-Tribune Information Services via COMTEX) -- A year after a Marion businessman was charged with scamming out-of-town customers, authorities say he's at it again. Detective Sgt. Rick Gutierrez of the Marion Police Department charged Robert Scott Cowart, 37, of Kathy Street in Marion with 19 felony counts of obtaining property by false pretense, three felony counts of financial card fraud and one felony count of financial card theft. He was taken into custody in lieu of a $150,000 bond. John Neymeyer of Ohio came to Marion to visit his daughter earlier this month. While here, he took his 1997 Chevrolet Tahoe to East Court Automotive to have the air conditioner fixed. Gutierrez said Cowart is the co-owner of East Court Automotive. Cowart repaired the vehicle, and Neymeyer paid with a credit card. The investigator stated that Cowart used the victim's credit card number to make $3,200 to $3,500 worth of purchases and payments. Neymeyer noticed when he returned home that there were nearly two dozen transactions on his credit card that he didn't make, including 16 to Advance Auto Parts, one to a finance company in Hickory and a couple to U.S. Cellular, according to Gutierrez. "He used the card to pay his car payment and cell phone bill and to buy a bunch of auto parts," said the detective. Police charged Cowart in July 2010 with selling a truck at auction for two North Carolina men, pocketing the money and writing the victims a check for nonsufficient funds. He was also accused of collecting a check from a Texas man last summer for a car he sold to him on eBay then turning around and selling the same car to a second individual before the Texas man could take possession of it. To see more of The McDowell News or to subscribe to the newspaper, go to http://www.mcdowellnews.com. Copyright (c) 2011, The McDowell News, Marion, N.C. Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services. For more information about the content services offered by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services (MCT), visit www.mctinfoservices.com. |