Newport car dealer charged with fraud

A financing company is probably eating sour grapes over the revelation that one of their customers, a Newport Beach vineyard owner, is being charged by federal prosecutors with bilking them out of millions of dollars.

Viken Keuylian, 45, of Laguna Hills, has accepted a plea agreement that could get him 30 years in prison for allegedly accepting millions in financing from Volkswagen Credit Inc. for his exotic car dealerships then using the money to support his struggling Newport Beach vineyard on Coast Highway, federal prosecutors said.

Officials said Keuylian accepted millions from the financing company to purchase then sell Lamborghinis out of his Orange County and Calabasas dealerships. Keuylian was supposed to pay back the loan for each car upon selling it, and keep the proceeds for himself. Instead, he is expected to plead guilty to lying to the finance company by not reporting cars he sold and instead using the profits to keep his vineyard and other car dealerships afloat.

In October, federal officials said he sold at least 54 vehicles, most of them Lamborghinis, for less than he owed to Volkswagen Credit Inc. Prosecutors said he sold the cars for $8,163,275 but was lent $12,560,314 to buy them.

Thirteen Lamborghinis and an Audi have been repossessed by the FBI for the case. He is expected to appear in federal court in Santa Ana on Monday.

Reporter JOSEPH SERNA may be reached at (714) 966-4619 or at [email protected].