Big Red Dealership Execs Nabbed in $Millions Fraud

OKLAHOMA CITY – A federal jury delivered a guilty verdict on Friday, November 19, 2021, to BOBBY CHRIS MAYES, 49, CHARLES GOOCH, 63, and COURTNEY WELLS, 36, all of Norman, Oklahoma. The trio, formerly at the helm of the Big Red Dealerships, were convicted on multiple counts of wire fraud, conspiracy, issuing forged securities, and aggravated identity theft. The verdict follows a trial that laid bare a systematic scheme to defraud lenders out of millions.

The indictment, returned by a federal grand jury on September 16, 2020, detailed a conspiracy spanning from January 2014 to March 2019. Prosecutors argued that Mayes, Gooch, and Wells, co-owners of Big Red Sports/Imports, Big Red Kia, Norman Yamaha, Norman Mitsubishi, and Mayes Kia, deliberately misled lenders to secure loan approvals. The scheme involved falsifying information about borrowers’ down payments and vehicle trade-ins, and, shockingly, at least one loan officer was allegedly bribed to look the other way.

The trial, presided over by Senior United States District Judge Stephen P. Friot, revealed a predatory business model. Big Red Dealerships actively targeted customers with poor credit, then fraudulently induced lenders to approve loans by claiming these customers had made substantial cash down payments or provided trade-in vehicles – claims that were often entirely fabricated. Testimony from twelve former customers painted a damning picture of deception. Internal documents referred to these fictitious down payments as “King Cash.” When one lender began to question the practices in late 2014, Mayes allegedly responded with direct threats to the lender’s CEO, attempting to halt the investigation.

The fraud didn’t stop there. From February 2015 to late 2017, the dealerships documented over 519 fictitious down payments allegedly based on items pawned at Norman Pawn & Gun, a shop owned by Gooch and located on property owned by Mayes – a business that, crucially, never actually opened and had no employees. Loan proceeds were deposited into dealership accounts, checks were forged with the customers’ signatures, and the pawn shop was fully reimbursed, creating a circular flow of fraudulent funds. Simultaneously, the dealerships falsely documented vehicle trade-ins on at least 542 occasions, reselling the vehicles to customers for a mere dollar while the lender remained unaware.

The evidence presented at trial also implicated the defendants in direct bribery. A Big Red Dealership manager allegedly provided cash bribes to a loan officer, and the dealership supplied fake invoices to inflate vehicle prices, enabling the approval of loans up to two or three times the actual value of the vehicles. The jury found BOBBY CHRIS MAYES and CHARLES GOOCH guilty on 12 counts of wire fraud (Counts 2-13 of the indictment), while COURTNEY WELLS was convicted on six of those counts. All three were found guilty of the overarching conspiracy to commit wire fraud (Count 1).

Each conviction carries a potential sentence of up to 20 years in prison and a $250,000.00 fine. The Department of Justice, led by Acting United States Attorney Robert J. Troester, has yet to announce sentencing dates. This case serves as a stark reminder that financial crimes, no matter how complex, will be pursued to the fullest extent of the law. The Grimy Times will continue to follow this case as it progresses.

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