PORTLAND, Ore. (KOIN) — The owner of Mac RV Sales in McMinnville was arrested Saturday after police said an investigation revealed he and his business never compensated dozens of owners selling their vehicles through his shop.
According to the McMinnville Police Department, between May 2019 and April 2021, Ruben Dominic Bernt and his consignment business received payment for about 30 RVs but never sent the money back to the sellers, totaling more than $800,000 in losses for them.
Police said most of the business’s inventory came from private RV owners selling their vehicles on consignment.
Mac RV Sales was reported for conducting fraudulent business transactions back in April 2021. Over the course of the next six months, police said they spoke with more than 30 people who had consigned their RVs through the business located at 4075 NE Three Mile Lane.
Police said most of them were not told when their RV sold and none of them received payment.
Bernt was arrested Saturday on 27 counts of first-degree aggravated theft and three counts of first-degree theft. He is lodged at the Yamhill County Jail, and his bail was set at $1 million.
The investigation is ongoing, and anyone with information is asked to contact Sgt. Cully Desmond with MPD.