The co-owner of a popular Houston fried chicken joint knowingly sold a stolen vintage Ferrari, the unwitting Manhattan buyer claims in a lawsuit.
Joachim Vaturi, 24, plunked down a winning bid of $72,500 during a July 3 online auction at Bringatrailer.com to take home the vehicle, a 1996 456 GT 6-speed.
“Been looking for a green/tan manual 456 for the better part of 3 years,” Vaturi wrote on the web site after winning the Ferrari. “After I get it mechanically sorted, it’ll get driven driven driven.”
The seller, Houston Crosta — who co-owns the fast-growing Houston’s Hot Chicken brand — bought the Ferrari in April and had claimed in the listing that it had a “clean Carfax report and a clean Nevada title.”
But he failed to mention the English green car with tan leather interior had been nipped from a previous owner in Italy, Vaturi contends in a Manhattan Supreme Court lawsuit.
Vaturi claims he discovered the deception a couple of weeks after his purchase, when his mechanic tried to get parts and learned the car had been listed as “stolen” by Ferrari and was “subject to recall,” according to the litigation.
He reached out to Crosta, who admitted via text, “October 1995 in Italy it was stolen,” Vaturi charged in court papers.
He claims Crosta has refused to give him a refund, and is suing to get his cash back.
