Indy man accused of stealing from Fed

INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) - An Indianapolis man has been indicted on felony charges for using taxpayer dollars to buy cars. Marion County Prosecutor Carl Brizzi said the man admitted to using federal money to pay his utility bills and buy five cars from an Indianapolis dealer.

Walter Eugene Lunsford now faces charges of fraud on a financial institution and theft.

Bob Thomas, owner of Capital City Ford, said Lunsford walked into the dealership last summer. He claimed he was buying cars for the beneficiaries of a trust fund.

"He's exactly the type of person you'd expect to see as the trust officer for a bank," said Thomas.

After a simple wire transfer, Lunsford owned five new cars.

Prosecutor Brizzi said, "He could literally use his own social security number and a routing number that allowed you to withdraw money from the federal bank."

A few months after the initial purchase, Lunsford came back to Capital City Ford. But this time he wanted a dozen vehicles, which raised a red flag with the chief financial officer.

"All of a sudden she got a bad sense that something wasn't right," said Thomas.

Thomas said he called the FBI, who discovered Lunsford had been stealing from the fed for the past two years.

"Nobody knew anything about it until we blew the whistle on them,” said Thomas.

"It's bizarre," said Brizzi. "We've never seen anything like this before."

Authorities returned all the vehicles Lunsford purchased to the dealership, but at this point they were used. Thomas had to sell the cars at a lesser cost, causing the dealership to lose about $160,000.

The prosecutor said Lunsford is part of a group that believes the government has no right to collect taxes. Lunsford told the grand jury, he felt entitled to take back his tax dollars.

Brizzi also said the federal government did not express any interest in prosecuting Lunsford, which is why the case is being handled locally.