Correction: An incorrect photograph was initially used with the online version of this story. BMW of San Rafael (formerly Sonnen BMW) has no affiliation with Sonnen Motorcars in Marin.

By Keri Brenner

kbrenner@marinij.com @KeriWorks on Twitter

Three former employees or associates of Sonnen Motorcars in Marin were arrested Friday by the FBI on suspicion of conspiracy and fraud involving an alleged $6.3 million embezzlement scheme at the dealerships from 2010 to 2016.

According to the indictment unsealed Friday, those arrested were Amir Bakhtiari, 50, formerly of Marin and now of Newport Beach, who was general manager of the Volkswagen and Audi dealerships from 2009 to 2016; Arlette Casino, 47, of Santa Rosa, controller of Sonnen from 2013 to 2016; and Austin Caba, 38, of Burlingame, who controlled one of the alleged fake advertising vendors.

Sonnen owned and operated three car dealerships in Marin — Sonnen Volkswagen, Audi Marin, and Porsche Marin, said an announcement on the indictment issued jointly Friday by the FBI and the IRS-Criminal Investigations, which cooperated on the investigation. According to the joint statement, the indictment alleges that Bakhtiari, from at least 2010 to 2016, “orchestrated an embezzlement scheme at Sonnen Motorcars.”

Bakhtiari “allegedly used his role to initiate a scheme wherein Sonnen made payments on fraudulent invoices to fake advertising vendors who then forwarded the majority of the proceeds from Sonnen back to Bakhtiari,” the statement said. The indictment alleges that Casino and Caba conspired with Bakhtiari and participated in the scheme since at least 2013.

According to the indictment, Bakhtiari “caused others to create shell entities with names suggesting that the shell companies were in the business of advertising,” the statement said.

“The shell companies were controlled by friends or associates of Bakhtiari’s, including Caba,” it added. “These entities were Advision Advertisers, Elite Marketing and Advertising, Pacific Blue Advertising, and ARC Sierra Promotional & Incentive Co.”

The indictment alleges ARC Sierra was controlled by Caba. Bakhtiari then allegedly “created or caused the creation of fake invoices from each of the fake advertising vendors to Sonnen, purporting to bill Sonnen for advertising work,” the statement said.

“Along with the controller, (who) from 2013 to 2016 was Casino, Bakhtiari approved the payments on these fake invoices from Sonnen’s bank accounts, in the form of checks written to the fake vendors,” the statement said.

In total, the indictment alleges that from 2010 to 2016, Bakhtiari used this process to direct approximately $6.3 million in fraudulent transfers. When the money reached the vendor bank accounts, the individuals who controlled these accounts allegedly wrote checks back to Bakhtiari for a majority of the funds.

The indictment states that Bakhtiari received approximately $3.6 million via checks in this manner, the announcement states.

“Caba also allegedly used funds embezzled from the ARC Sierra bank account to pay the balance on an American Express credit card account that he shared with Bakhtiari,” the indictment states. The indictment alleges Bakhtiari and Caba spent approximately $1.7 million on this American Express credit card account.

According to the indictment, Bakhtiari and Casino also allegedly “initiated other fraudulent payments to themselves, including bonuses that Bakhtiari falsely claimed were funded by the corporate offices of Volkswagen or Audi,” the announcement states. “Bakhtiari and Casino approved the payment of these fraudulent bonuses, knowing they were not authorized by the majority owner of Sonnen Motorcars.”

Bakhtiari, Casino and Caba were all charged with conspiracy to commit wire fraud and wire fraud. Bakhtiari and Caba were also charged with conspiracy to engage in monetary transactions in property derived from specified unlawful activity.

If convicted, the maximum penalty for each count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud and wire fraud is 20 years’ imprisonment and a $250,000 fine.

The maximum penalty for each count of conspiracy to engage in monetary transactions in property derived from specified unlawful activity is 10 years’ imprisonment and a $250,000 fine.

Investigators in the case named in Friday’s statement were: Acting U.S. Attorney Alex G. Tse, FBI Special Agent in Charge John F. Bennett and IRS criminal investigation Special Agent in Charge Michael T. Batdorf.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Benjamin Kingsley is prosecuting the case with the assistance of Bridget Kilkenny.