Farmington auto shop owner accused of defrauding five customers

• Silas Bedah, 53, of Fruitland, is accused of two, third-degree felony counts of fraud and three, fourth-degree felony counts of fraud, according to the criminal complaint.
• The charges were filed against Bedah on Jan. 13 and he was arrested in the case on April 13.
• John Beckstead, Bedah’s attorney, did not respond to a request for comment.

FARMINGTON — A Farmington business owner is accused of defrauding customers after allegedly taking their money and never performing repairs along with not returning some of the vehicles to their owners.

Silas Bedah, 53, of Farmington is accused of two third-degree felony counts of fraud and three fourth-degree felony counts of fraud, according to the criminal complaint.

John Beckstead, Bedah’s attorney, did not respond to a request for comment.

The charges were filed against Bedah on Jan. 13 and he was arrested in the case on April 13.

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A Farmington Police Department detective on Nov. 20 was assigned to investigate multiple allegations involving Bedah, owner of Silas Autos, at 308 Airport Road in Farmington.

A lawyer put the detective with two of the people who Bedah is accused of defrauding.

The affidavit details a total of five people who were allegedly defrauded by the defendant.

The patterns for all five people were similar, according to court documents. They paid in amounts varying from $688 to $4,500 to have work completed on their vehicles and Bedah allegedly asked for the money upfront.

The defendant is then accused of trying to avoid phone calls and making excuses for why the auto work was not performed.

In some cases, Bedah refused to return the vehicles until he received more money for the auto work never performed.

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Some people were successful in getting some money back, but it was a small amount of the overall amount of money paid to the defendant, according to court documents.

One man allegedly paid Bedah $2,500 for transmission work on a Subaru vehicle that the owner learned would have been a free repair due to a vehicle recall.

The detective learned Farmington police have received 14 calls for service at the business since 2017 that were directly related to individuals wanting assistance in getting their vehicles back and claiming Bedah asked for money up front and did not render services.

The defendant was released from the county jail on April 15.

Bedah’s preliminary hearing is set for the morning of May 12 in Farmington Magistrate Court.

Joshua Kellogg covers breaking news for The Daily Times. He can be reached at 505-564-4627 or via email at jkellogg@daily-times.com.

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