Multi-Million Dollar Synthetic ID Auto Loan Fraudster Arrested

Suspect tied to more than 1,400 cases in five years

Houston, TX – 14 December 2020 – Houston police have tracked down a serial fraud suspect tied to more than 1,400 cases in five years in multiple cities and states, including Houston. Police allege that Jarius Eseiah Bell of Ruston, Louisiana, is connected to at least three cases of vehicle fraud in the Houston area as of recent.

“He’s just a very efficient fraudster,” said HPD Sgt. D. Schlosser.

Houston Police first became aware of Bell in late September. Investigators said since then, he attempted to buy vehicles online from several local dealerships using the name “Jimmie Warner.”

“There’s at least five dealerships that have credit applications from somebody claiming to be Jimmie Warner,” Schlosser said.

In one case from mid-October, police said he asked that the car be delivered to him citing COVID-19 concerns. That’s when police went undercover.

“We decided to set up an operation where we would deliver the car to him pretending to be a dealership employee,” Schlosser said.

Police arrested Bell but said that his fingerprints did not match anyone with an arrest record. They said he was given a low bond and was out of jail the next day. So, they began to do some digging.

What developed after their discovery, was a prior history spanning several years.

“We ran his face through a facial recognition program and it came up with a person who was arrested in Louisiana for 1,400 counts of fraud named Jarius Bell,” Schlosser said.

In December of 2015, Louisiana State Police located and recovered a stolen 2015 Chevrolet Camaro was located at a Ruston, LA address belonging to a Kretena Monek Hunter. Further investigation determined that Bell had produced fraudulent loan paperwork to obtain the vehicle as well as many others from several different locations throughout Arkansas and Louisiana.

In March of 2017, Bell was finally arrested and re-booked on 30 counts of Bank Fraud, 1389 counts of Money Laundering, 16 counts of Fraudulent Acquisition of Credit Cards and 1 count of Computer Fraud.

Among the vehicles Bell fraudulently obtained in his first arrest included a 2015 Chevrolet Camaro SS, a 2015 Alfa Romeo, a 2015 GMC Denali, a 2014 Dodge Challenger, a 2015 Lexus RCF, a 2014 Dodge Ram pickup, a 2015 Infiniti SUV, a 2015 Kawasaki Ninja motorcycle, and a Voltage fifth-wheel travel trailer.

His crime spree apparently went back all the way to 2015 making him one of the most notorious and prolific auto loan fraudsters in auto lending history.

Bell was held on a new bond of $2,000,000 and eventually released.

Fast forward to 2020. A short 11 days after his release from jail in Houston, Sgt. Schlosser said he was contactedby a dealership in Humble. This time, police said, Bell tried to buy a vehicle, pretending to be someone named “Jeff Brown”.

“During that arrest, he was operating another vehicle he had obtained from a dealership in Spring,” Schlosser said.

Bell is now behind bars on three felony charges and has a combined bond of $135,000.

His next court date is Jan. 5, 2021