By DAMIEN FISHER, InDepthNH.org
NASHUA — If Stephan Condodemetraky finally goes to prison, it won’t be for lack of trying.
“Give me the chance to make it right … Let me pay these people,” Condodemetraky said.
The disgraced owner of Dusty Old Cars pulled out all the stops Thursday during his sentencing hearing in the Hillsborough Superior Court — South in Nashua. His priest told Judge Charles Temple how much remorse Condodemetraky feels, his best friend from college recounted the times he was kind, and even his children’s nanny, a retired nun, testified to what a good father he is.
“I never saw such a loving, caring person,” Sister Jeannette Roy said.
The problem for Condodemetraky are the people who did not testify, like the six victims he is convicted of stealing $125,000 from through his consignment car company. Many did not want to give Condodemetraky, who prosecutors call a conman, any more of their time. Some, like Thomas Aubert, could not. Aubert died waiting for his chance to see Condodemetraky face justice. His wife Diane Aubert, asked Temple to do what is right.
“I myself would like to see Stephan get the jail time he deserves, for justice and for my husband so that he can rest in peace,” Aubert told the court in a victim-impact statement.
Assistant Attorney General Kevin Scura asked Temple to put Condodemetraky away for 6 to 12 years, as well as order him to make full restitution to the six victims. Condodemetraky is someone who has options in life, multiple college degrees, a business, a family, and friends. Instead, he chose to steal from his consignment customers, ruining lives along the way, Scura said.
“He squandered his privileged background because he did not care about anybody else,” Scura said. “This is a guy who had it all. This is a guy who knew better and he did it anyway.”
Condodemetraky sold the classic cars brought to him by his customers on consignment, and kept the money, Scura said. He used it to pay his credit card bills, his property tax payment on his million-dollar home in Bedford, and on luxuries like hotel stays, clothing, restaurants, and vacations.
A jury found Condodemetraky guilty earlier this year on six felony counts of theft. While Condodemetraky and his attorney, Bruce Kenna, argued repeatedly that he always planned to pay back the victims, Scura called Condodemetraky’s repayment plans “harebrained schemes.”
The convictions come six years after Dusty Old Cars was liquidated in a bankruptcy forced, Condodemetraky claims, by the Attorney General’s Office. He claims that after learning he had an accounting problem and people were not getting paid, he came up with plans to get loans and credit to pay back the customers.
“I literally turned myself inside out to get these people paid,” Condodemetraky said.
There were, in fact, millions of dollars taken from hundreds of victims through Dusty Old Cars, according to court records.
The state started getting complaints in 2015 from people who said they were ripped off when Condodemetraky sold their classic car. Usually, he would simply keep part or all of the money. In some cases, he charged bogus fees or made phantom repairs to the vehicles, according to court records. As more complaints rolled in, the business floundered. In 2016, with the state investigating and the number of angry customers growing, Condodemetraky filed for bankruptcy protection.
Michael Askenaizer, the Nashua attorney appointed to oversee the business’ liquidation, called Dusty Old Cars a Ponzi-scheme, with Condodemetraky taking in money from loans and investors despite the fact Dusty Old Cars had been insolvent as a business as far back as 2013.
“Condodemetraky directed the operation of the business of Dusty Old Cars … and controlled and manipulated its books and records in such a way as to hide the losses incurred and to allow him to extract millions of dollars from creditors with no expectation, nor realistic way, of paying back that which was taken,” Askenaizer wrote in a federal court filing.
The six convictions reached in January represent a fraction of the claims against Condodemetraky. He’s been convicted on a theft charge in Rockingham Superior Court, and served a 48-hour jail sentence.
Temple is expected to render a decision on the sentencing Tuesday at 10 a.m.