Alleged Car Restoration Fraudsters Exposed

The legal profession has always struggled between its calling to represent the disenfranchised and the downtrodden and the – at times – rather than timely – falsely accused on the one hand and the corrupt criminals that abuse the legal system’s many loopholes. Recently, multiple lawsuits for fraud, wire fraud, and defamation have been filed against a Land Rover restoration and camping supply shop in Washington state.  The lawyers involved have been sanctioned and also sued for fraud.  They seemed to be accused of overstepping the line and joining their clients in advancing criminal schemes.  

Multiple lawsuits for fraud have been filed against a car restoration shop located in Pierce County, in the city of Gig Harbor, Washington. The restoration business that also sells camping gear is called Defenders Northwest, LLC.  It is operated by a husband-and-wife team, Michele and Brian Hall.  The lawsuits against the couple and their companies allege that the restoration shop’s proprietors orchestrated a multi-year fraud scheme to defraud their customers causing millions of dollars in damages. 

The lawyers for the car restoration shop called Defenders Northwest LLC, are Philip H. Lo, a partner in a large law firm known for its insurance defense work, and Shawn Harju of Federal Way, Washington. 

Lo and Harju apparently have also become part of the escalating controversy.  Ms. Harju has recently been sued for fraud in an unrelated case that involved alleged $20 Million invoice scam.  The case where Harju is a defendant has been launched alongside a criminal case against Harju’s clients.  Philip H. Lo has been sanctioned by the court for refusing to allow for the inspection of the vintage car that his clients are alleged to have embezzled, also using fraudulent invoices.  

According to sources for this editorial, Mr. Lo has resorted to threats and intimidation and may have defrauded the court in his efforts to aid Defenders Northwest in concealing their fraudulent scheme. Whether Mr. Lo is overstepping his role as lawyer paid by Liberty Mutual Insurance from reckless client advocacy to unethical and possibly criminal behavior remains to be seen. Neither Philip Lo nor Shawn Harju responded to multiple inquiries for this editorial.

Authorities and victims are warning car collectors to be cautious and dig beyond fancy social media profiles or positive endorsements on google or yelp. Recently, a car enthusiast in Hawaii has been scammed, when he wired over $250,000 for a Mercedes Brabus G63, which was not delivered. The story explains that many positive reviews on social media could be fake.

Recently, U.S. Attorney Trini E. Ross announced that Clark P. Rittersbach, 49, of Cape Coral, Florida, was criminally charged with wire fraud, which carries a maximum sentence of 20 years imprisonment and a fine of $250,000. According to the criminal charges, Rittersbach owned Concours Classic Motor Cars in Macedon, NY. The company, which claimed to specialize in the restoration and sale of vintage vehicles, has many long distance and international customers. Since at least 2017, Rittersbach has fraudulently billed at least three victims for restoration work on their antique vehicles that he either did not complete or did not perform at all, despite communicating to them via email and text message that he had. 

As a result of this criminal scheme, Rittersbach fraudulently obtained at least $1.15 million dollars from the three victims. The fraudulent restoration projects included 1964 Porsche 356C, which the victim never received, a 1932 Duesenberg Murphy, which was never acquired for the other victim. According to the U.S. Attorney prosecuting the case, the fraudster claimed that he restored a 1926 Rolls Royce “Silver Ghost” which was a lie. The victim car collector hired a private investigators and attorneys. 

Halls’ victims claimed in court filings that the Halls, Harju and Defenders Northwest, LLC, swindled them through an eight-year fraudulent scheme that according to the legal filings involved fraudulent billing, delays predicated on incidents of third-party vandalism to the victims’ vehicles, bad faith, fraudulent chattel liens, and ultimately a missing car. The latest suit for fraud was filed in July, 2024 against Shawn Harju, an alleged partner in Defenders Northwest, and Halls’ part-time lawyer and yoga instructor.  The allegations in the lawsuit seem to parallel those in another fraud case filed against Harju. 

Court documents meticulously explain how Michele A. Hall and Brian T. Hall orchestrated a plan to defraud their customers out of their 1984 Land Rover Defender 130 vehicle that was entrusted to them for restoration more than 8 years ago.  The inspection revealed that our car is gone and so is the money we paid for restoration, Brian T. Hall’s victims exclaimed in legal filings.