LAURINBURG, GA - A car dealership owner who failed to appear in court on fraud charges three weeks ago has been found in Savannah, Ga.

Frank Silvestry, 75, owner of Silvestry Chevrolet Inc. in Laurinburg, has been in jail in Chatham County, Ga., since Tuesday night. He is awaiting his return to Scotland County, according to the jail's Web site.

Investigators with the N.C. Division of Motor Vehicles have been looking for Silvestry since Sept. 3, when he failed to appear in court, said Marge Howell, a spokeswoman for the DMV.

Silvestry is charged with 49 felonies, including obtaining property by false pretense, conversion and embezzlement, Howell said. The charges were filed by the DMV, she said.

The investigation began in November when the DMV received complaints about Silvestry's business practices, Howell said.

"We did an audit and found there were criminal and regulatory violations," she said.

Among the allegations are that Silvestry would not pay off loans owed on vehicles that were traded in for newer ones.

"He would take the vehicle and resell it," Howell said.

The customers would be contacted by creditors when they never received payoffs or payments on traded-in vehicles, Howell said.

Silvestry also is accused of selling warranty plans to customers and then pocketing the money and embezzling fees that were to be paid to the Division of Motor Vehicles, Howell said.