A bond hearing has been set for later this month a former car dealer accused of swindling his customers.

Frank Silvestry is currently in jail under a $1 million secured bond, awaiting trial for 26 counts of obtaining property by false pretenses, 23 counts of embezzlement of state property and one count of felony conversion.

The 75-year old businessman will appear in front of a judge on Jan. 28 to request his seven-digit bond amount be lowered, according to the District Attorney's office.

He is being represented by Jonathan McInnis of the Public Defenders office.

The issue of bond was last discussed at his first appearance on Sept. 28.

At that hearing, District Court Judge William C. McIlwain suggested that Silvestry may be a flight risk and refused to lower the bond.

McIlwain told the courtroom at that hearing that he was unaware of the particulars of the case but did "read the newspaper" about Silvestry's eluding authorities for several weeks until he picked up in Savannah, Ga. on Sept 22; Silvestry was supposed to surrender to authorities on Sept. 3.

Silvestry told the judge he could not pay the bond as it stands.

"I don't have 10 cents," Silvestry said.

The judge also told Silvestry at the Sept. hearing that the embezzlement charges are class F felonies and carry a maximum sentence of 59 months per charge. The 27 other counts against the Pinehurst resident are class H felonies and each carry a maximum sentence of 59 months.

According to arrest warrants, Silvestry is accused of failing to pay off trade-ins and then selling them with outstanding debts, which allegedly affected people's credit scores and caused at least one person to lose their car to a creditor.

The warrants did not individually list the amount each car was worth or the total amount taken, but one warrant does say a car Silvestry had not paid off was sold for $11,525.

Silvestry is also accused of accepting a deposit on two Chevrolet Corvettes that were never ordered.

He is also accused of failing to pay state taxes and fees he collected from customers.

The warrants do not list the total amounts withheld from the state, but the registration fee is $28 and the title fee is $40 according to the Department of Motor Vehicles.

Silvestry was the owner of Silvestry Chevrolet in Laurinburg. The dealership closed last January.