Philadelphia Used Car Salesman Pleads Guilty to Defrauding Customers Who Sought Wheelchair-Accessible Vehicles

PHILADELPHIA - United States Attorney David Metcalf announced that Edward Scott Rock, 49, of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, entered a plea of guilty today before United States District Judge Wendy Beetlestone in connection with a non-delivery sales scheme in which Rock accepted payment for, but failed to deliver, over 100 automobiles, and caused over $1 million in losses.

The defendant, who was charged by indictment in December of 2023, pleaded guilty to one count of mail fraud and one count of wire fraud.

As detailed in court filings, between 2019 and 2023, Rock obtained used vehicles from automobile auctions and then advertised them for sale online. The majority of vehicles sold by Rock to victims were accessible vehicles equipped for wheelchair users or people with disabilities.

Despite signing bills of sale for the vehicles and accepting more than $2.5 million in payments from over 100 victims across three dozen states, Rock did not deliver the vehicles as agreed upon. While some victims were subsequently refunded, often with money received from the scheme's later victims, the majority of Rock's victims remain unpaid and without their purchased vehicle. Approximately two-thirds of Rock's victims were persons with a physical or mobility disability, persons over the age of 65, or businesses which provided transportation services to those populations.

On several occasions, Rock sold the same vehicle to multiple customers. After agreeing to sale terms and accepting payment from a customer for a particular vehicle, Rock continued to list, sell, and accept payment for that same vehicle again, this time from a new victim-purchaser.

In one instance, Rock agreed to sell a particular vehicle - a wheelchair-accessible 2017 Ford T150 van - to 16 different buyers over an 11-month period between February 2022 and January 2023. Despite accepting payments from multiple buyers for this same specific vehicle and collecting over $300,000 all for the same vehicle, Rock only delivered the vehicle to one buyer (and without proper title).

To induce buyers to purchase vehicles, Rock also occasionally used a forged letter to falsely certify that the vehicles listed for sale were compliant with the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) and had undergone a conversion with a reputable manufacturer of wheelchair-accessible vehicles.

The defendant is scheduled to be sentenced on January 29, 2026, and faces a maximum possible sentence of 40 years' imprisonment and a $250,000 fine, along with victim restitution.

The case was investigated by the FBI, with assistance from the Philadelphia Police Department Major Crimes Auto Squad and the Pennsylvania Office of Attorney General Bureau of Consumer Protection. The case is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorneys Samuel S. Dalke and Jessica Rice.

Note: the posting of this press release was delayed, due to the federal government shutdown from October 1, 2025, to November 12, 2025.