A city businessman – accused by flashy Brooklyn Bishop Lamor Whitehead of slandering him to the FBI, leading to federal charges – has been arrested for allegedly running a fraudulent luxury car rental line.
Brandon Belmonte, 39, was busted for allegedly using two straw buyers to get financing for his luxury car fleet — hiding that they’d really be used as rentals for his business, VIP Cars NYC in Astoria and the Bronx, according to a federal indictment.
Belmonte also was accused of hiding from insurance companies that the vehicles would be rented out, the indictment charges.
Belmonte appeared in Brooklyn federal court Friday flanked by his lawyer James Miskiewicz for an arraignment where a not guilty plea was entered.
According to court papers, Belmonte, of Montclair, NJ, and the straw buyers — one of whom worked at VIP — allegedly provided lenders with fake earnings statements and phony bank account records to make it look like they were financially stronger than they really were.
The trio knew the lenders “would not finance the sale or lease of the luxury vehicles if they knew the true intended purpose for the vehicles or the true financial status of the straw buyers,” the indictment charges.
Similarly, Belmonte hid from insurance companies that the cars would be used as rentals so he could get coverage; he later lied when submitting claims for accidents, the court filing claims.
In one example of the scam, from April 2020 through May 2020, Belmonte submitted claims for three separate accidents involving VIPs cars, falsely claiming the vehicles were driven by construction company employees –when they were actually being rented out, the indictment claims.
In another instance in August 2021, Belmonte submitted a claim for a parking lot accident, saying he worked for Homeland Security, and claiming he wasn’t involved with VIP, the indictment says.
Assistant US Attorney Rebecca Schuman asked the judge to hold Belmonte on $100,000 secured bond because he was a flight risk.
“Mr. Belmonte changed his cell phone number several times in the weeks leading up to his arrest…causing us to wonder if this was an attempt to evade arrest or law enforcement intervention,” Schuman said.
But Miskiewicz requested his client be released without bail, noting Belmonte doesn’t even have a passport.
Belmonte had changed his phone number because he had been receiving “threats by associates in relation to this case,” which prompted Miskiewicz to speak with the FBI “regarding safety concerns,” the lawyer said.
It is “unclear whether the threats relate to this case or directly to the fraud scheme that the defendant is involved in,” Schuman countered.
Belmonte was allowed to walk free Friday on $100,000 bond backed by his mom Judith Belmonte. But he can only travel in parts of New York, New Jersey and Connecticut, Magistrate Judge Nora Scanlan ruled.
The mother dialed into the courtroom from her Connecticut home saying: “It’s very hard … He’s all I’ve got,” prompting Belmonte to tear up.
Belmonte is charged with conspiracy to commit wire fraud and is due back in court Aug. 16.
In March, Bishop Whitehead sued Belmonte for $200 million claiming that if not for Belmonte’s interview in the New Yorker and with the FBI, the fraud case against Whitehead in federal court wouldn’t have been brought. The suit is still pending but Belmonte hasn’t responded to the case.
Whitehead claimed Belmonte was actually the con man and said he hoped the feds will now reevaluate his case.
“I want the world to see how the bishop is being painted as a villain instead of a victim,” Whitehead told The Post at the time.
Whitehead’s lawyer didn’t immediately return a request for comment.