LAS VEGAS (FOX5) — A Las Vegas man promised to restore classic cars but instead took more than a million dollars from victims around the world and delivered nothing, investigators say.
Anthony Tomaio has been on the Nevada DMV’s radar for years after complaints came in from victims across the globe. Investigators say Tomaio operated under a company called Americana Consulting, signing contracts with customers to assemble or restore custom vintage Chevrolet pickup trucks. According to court documents filed by the attorney general, he took their money and abandoned the projects.
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California family loses heirloom truck
The Williams family couldn’t wait to restore their grandfather’s 1962 Chevy truck.
“His grandfather had purchased it straight from the factory line at the Chevrolet dealer back in 1962 so it’s been in the family since the first time it was purchased,” said Tina Williams.
Tina Williams and her husband Daniel live in California. They say they did their research and found someone they thought could get the job done.
“We found Anthony, spoke to him a few times on the phone, he had given us names and phone numbers of people he had done work for. We called them, we spoke to them, they sent us videos of their vehicles that Anthony got for them,” Williams said.
That someone was Anthony Tomaio, the man the DMV Compliance Division says has allegedly been defrauding people for years through his company, Americana Consulting.
The Williams dropped off the truck in 2021. Tina Williams says her husband shook hands with Tomaio and left their family heirloom in his care.
“We paid for new seats, paid for inside painting and he said it would take about two years. Well, after about a year the truck hadn’t gotten any work yet. He said with COVID he had lost his employees but he still wanted our check because we were making payments,” Williams said.
The Williams say they paid him more than $33,000. Slowly red flags started to appear.
“We couldn’t pop in anytime, which put up a red flag too. We had to call him and he would say ‘oh come after 10:30’ — and if it’s a shop, why can’t we come anytime we wanted to?” Williams said.
Truck returned in pieces
In January of last year, Williams says she got a call from Tomaio saying his shop was being shut down and they needed to get their truck back. But she tells FOX5 Investigates it wasn’t the truck she and her husband had left behind.
“No engine, no seats, the wood was gone, everything was stripped from the truck. It was a shell. We had to strap it together on a flatbed trailer and tow it home,” Williams said.
Williams said she and her husband cried when they saw the family truck in pieces.
“It was an heirloom that was passed down to us — and he took it,” Williams said.
Victims from around the world
The Williams family was just one of Tomaio’s many victims, said Chief J.D. Decker with the Nevada DMV Compliance Division.
“He had a website that would create or restore vehicles for money, and these were classic vehicles so people would send him money and place their orders. He would keep the money and string them along sometimes for years,” Decker said.
Investigators say Tomaio defrauded victims from around the world. Some of those victims created a Facebook group with more than 60 members.
Court documents filed by the attorney general say Tomaio defrauded 30 people, each paying him anywhere from $17,000 to $65,000. Many of those victims were over 60 years old.
“They are giving him their life savings and not getting anything in return for years and years — but the runaround,” Decker said.
In February, investigators arrested Tomaio. Court records show Tomaio faces 31 felony charges, including fraud and obtaining money under false pretenses. He is out on bail.
For the Williams family, it’s not just money they lost.
“He took away our family memories. He took away something my husband had wanted to give to our children and pass down to our grandchildren,” Williams said.
FOX5 Investigates reached out to Tomaio by phone but he hung up on us.
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