MADISON, Wis. (WMTV) – A Madison dealership owner says his suspicions grew as one family kept returning to buy BMWs, but it wasn’t until a third trip to a bank that he says everything unraveled.
Trust N Ride Auto Sales & Repair owner Zain Tariq says the first customer walked in ready to buy a BMW, but something about the sale felt unusual.
“Usually, people say… show me the CarFax or show me this. ‘Okay, I want to take the car for a pre-purchase inspection,’” Tariq said. “Nothing. He don’t want to test drive, nothing. He didn’t even start the car.”
According to Tariq, the customer bought the car and told employees his mother would be back the next day to purchase another BMW. Before completing that sale, Tariq says he sent his salesperson to a bank to ask whether the check appeared legitimate.
(WMTV)
“They looked at the checks. They confirmed it. They’re saying, ‘Yeah, you should be fine. They have enough money in there,’” Tariq said.
The next morning, Tariq says the customer’s mother arrived, picked out another BMW within minutes and opted for the dealership’s bumper-to-bumper warranty without hesitation.
“Literally in two minutes, they decide that they want to go with this one,” Tariq said. “When we give them the options for the warranties… she picked up the right one… She’s ready to spend money.”
He says he personally returned to the bank with the second check.
“The lady at the front counter… went to her manager, and she came back and she handed me the check saying, ‘You should be fine,’” Tariq said.
Another family member returned a few hours later hoping to buy a third BMW. When the customer said they were going to pick up another check from a nearby bank branch, Tariq says he and his salesperson drove there to see if anyone from the family actually showed up.
(WMTV)
“We sat in their parking lot… for 30 minutes. Nobody showed up,” Tariq said. “We came back to the dealership… literally after five minutes, they showed up with another $26,000 check.”
Instead of speaking with a teller, Tariq says he insisted on meeting with a manager.
“I told them, ‘I want to talk to the manager. I’m not talking to anybody else,’” he said. “I got two more checks… from the same account, same company…”
According to Tariq, the manager’s response was different.
“He said, ‘I can tell you this, there’s some red flags on these checks. And that’s the only thing I can tell you,’” Tariq said.
Tariq says he rushed back to the dealership and called Madison police while employees worked to delay the third sale.
“I told my salesperson… we have to do an after-sale inspection of the vehicle,” he said. “One of my employees parked another car behind it… so we got some time where we can investigate our part.”
According to the Madison Police Department, a father and son are accused of using fraudulent checks to purchase luxury vehicles from the dealership. Police say the suspects returned Thursday to buy a third vehicle in two days before employees contacted officers. A 33-year-old man was arrested at the dealership, while investigators say his 18-year-old son fled in one of the vehicles before he was apprehended a short time later. The investigation remains ongoing.
The owner says the experience was especially frightening because of what was at stake. Tariq says each BMW was worth roughly $36,000, meaning his small business was at risk of losing tens of thousands of dollars.
Tariq said that police called him Friday night to tell him both BMWs had been recovered and would remain in police custody while the investigation continues. WMTV 15 News reached out to Madison police to independently confirm that information but had not heard back before publication.
While he’s relieved, Tariq says the experience changed how he’ll handle future sales.
“I don’t think even I trust cashier’s checks anymore,” he said. “People should be… careful with these big transactions.”
WMTV 15 News also reached out to the bank Tariq referenced for comment but did not receive a response before publication.
Click here to download the WMTV15 News app or our WMTV15 First Alert weather app.
Copyright 2026 WMTV. All rights reserved.