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A Derry Township businessman dodged the "repo man" for years, hiding bulldozers and excavators he owed payments on and then selling the equipment to buyers across the United States, police alleged.
This week, a state police vehicle theft task force caught up with Ryan Owen Smith, 43, whose last known address was 107 Foxwood Lane, Unity, and returned him to Westmoreland County.
Smith, who has been avoiding an arrest warrant since October while reportedly living in the Fort Lauderdale area of Florida, was arraigned late Tuesday before Derry District Judge Mark Bilik on charges of deceptive business practices, theft, theft by deception and defrauding creditors. He is being held in the county prison after failing to post $100,000 bail.
Smith "has successfully hidden no less than nine pieces of Caterpillar heavy construction equipment that has been court ordered to be forfeited and has defrauded Caterpillar Financial out of $306,303 because of his behavior," Trooper Joseph L. Doris of the bureau of criminal investigation wrote in an affidavit.
Smith allegedly defaulted on two bulldozers, one excavator and six backhoes that he sold and then pocketed the cash.
Smith is president of Winter Weather Services, a landscaping, hauling and plowing firm on Route 217 in Derry Township, according to court documents filed in several unrelated civil lawsuits filed against Smith. Some of the heavy equipment purchases were made through the business, according to court documents.
Smith is the son of the late Ralph T. Smith, the Derry businessman who founded Dogwood Acres Mobile Home Park along Route 217 in the township.
Following his father's death on May 28, 2011, Smith became part-owner of the trailer park with his brother, Tony, and his mother, Geri.
In November, the Derry Township Municipal Authority filed a $12,787 lien against the park and the Smiths for alleged failure to make payments on the sewage bill. Multiple creditors are seeking to foreclose on Smith's Unity home, court records show.
Smith's alleged heavy-equipment scheme began unravelling last spring when Davis Mellot, a heavy-equipment dealer in Chesapeake, Va., told police that he had purchased a used 2006 Caterpillar bulldozer from Smith for $45,500 in 2010.
After Mellot resold it, the new owner learned the bulldozer had a lien on it from Caterpillar Financial, Mellot told Doris.
The bulldozer was subsequently returned to Mellot who gave the machine to Caterpillar. Mellot lost at least $45,500 he paid Smith in 2010, the affidavit said.
Lawyers for Caterpillar Financial contacted Doris about other alleged thefts of equipment "that Smith has successfully hidden" from repossessors, it said.
Repeated attempts yesterday to reach Doris for comment were unsuccessful.
Smith's preliminary hearing is scheduled Feb. 8 before Bilik.
A Derry Township businessman dodged the "repo man" for years, hiding bulldozers and excavators he owed payments on and then selling the equipment to buyers across the United States, police alleged.
This week, a state police vehicle theft task force caught up with Ryan Owen Smith, 43, whose last known address was 107 Foxwood Lane, Unity, and returned him to Westmoreland County.
Smith, who has been avoiding an arrest warrant since October while reportedly living in the Fort Lauderdale area of Florida, was arraigned late Tuesday before Derry District Judge Mark Bilik on charges of deceptive business practices, theft, theft by deception and defrauding creditors. He is being held in the county prison after failing to post $100,000 bail.
Smith "has successfully hidden no less than nine pieces of Caterpillar heavy construction equipment that has been court ordered to be forfeited and has defrauded Caterpillar Financial out of $306,303 because of his behavior," Trooper Joseph L. Doris of the bureau of criminal investigation wrote in an affidavit.
Smith allegedly defaulted on two bulldozers, one excavator and six backhoes that he sold and then pocketed the cash.
Smith is president of Winter Weather Services, a landscaping, hauling and plowing firm on Route 217 in Derry Township, according to court documents filed in several unrelated civil lawsuits filed against Smith. Some of the heavy equipment purchases were made through the business, according to court documents.
Smith is the son of the late Ralph T. Smith, the Derry businessman who founded Dogwood Acres Mobile Home Park along Route 217 in the township.
Following his father's death on May 28, 2011, Smith became part-owner of the trailer park with his brother, Tony, and his mother, Geri.
In November, the Derry Township Municipal Authority filed a $12,787 lien against the park and the Smiths for alleged failure to make payments on the sewage bill. Multiple creditors are seeking to foreclose on Smith's Unity home, court records show.
Smith's alleged heavy-equipment scheme began unravelling last spring when Davis Mellot, a heavy-equipment dealer in Chesapeake, Va., told police that he had purchased a used 2006 Caterpillar bulldozer from Smith for $45,500 in 2010.
After Mellot resold it, the new owner learned the bulldozer had a lien on it from Caterpillar Financial, Mellot told Doris.
The bulldozer was subsequently returned to Mellot who gave the machine to Caterpillar. Mellot lost at least $45,500 he paid Smith in 2010, the affidavit said.
Lawyers for Caterpillar Financial contacted Doris about other alleged thefts of equipment "that Smith has successfully hidden" from repossessors, it said.
Repeated attempts yesterday to reach Doris for comment were unsuccessful.
Smith's preliminary hearing is scheduled Feb. 8 before Bilik.
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