Police: Former lawmaker, Mayor involved in illegal fee scheme at Providence dealership

A former Providence State Representative and former East Providence Mayor were arrested for allegedly cheating customers out of thousands of dollars in illegal fees.

73 year old Anthony Pate, 56-year-old Thomas Palangio and 64-year-old Bruce Rogers were released on personal recognizance after their arraignment Tuesday. They are all associated with the former Douglas Auto Sales in Providence.

In July the DMV Dealers’ License and Regulations Office fined and shut down Douglas Auto Sales after finding it allegedly violated several dealer rules and regulations.

Then State Police looked into one of the dealership’s financing programs called “Buy Here, Pay Here”, where customers with bad credit could finance their purchased vehicles, paying Douglas Auto Sales directly. An investigation found the dealership was allegedly overcharging customers for additional fees – including warranties, gap insurance, and document preparation fees.

In all, police say the dealership charged 31 customers with illegal fees amounting to over  $150,000 in 2017 alone.

They arrested Pate, the business owner; Palangio, the property owner and general manager and former State Rep., and Rogers, an employee and former Mayor of East Providence. 

It’s unclear if this activity was going on while Palangio was in office. He served until 2016.

State Police are asking anyone who bought a car at Douglas Auto Sales in the last three years using that program to contact the DMV.

 (C) WLNE-TV 2018