Report: Macedon Business Owner Defrauded Victims of Over $1M

A Wayne County business owner could face 20 years in prison and a $250-thousand fine after being charged with wire fraud.

The US Attorney’s Office alleges that, since at least 2017, 49-year old Clark Rittersbach of Cape Coral, Florida received at least 1.15-million from three victims for acquisition and work on classic cars that he never completed or never began at all, despite communicating to the victims electronically that he had.

He owned and managed Concours Classic Motor Cars in the Town of Macedon from 2006 to at least 2021. The business specializes in the sale and restoration of antique vehicles.

The office office says the victims were one American and two foreigners:

• Between April 2009 and April 2019, Victim 1, who resides in Pennsylvania,  paid Rittersbach to purchase or restore numerous vehicles on his behalf, but eventually became aware of instances in which Rittersbach lied about work done or vehicles purchased in order to obtain money from Victim 1, including a 1932 Dusenburg Murphy.
• Between 2014 and May 2021, Victim 2, a Canadian resident, paid Rittersbach to acquire and/or restore six rare and high value antique automobiles in exchange for payments totaling $374,000. These automobiles included a 1964 Porsche 356C, which Victim 2 never received.
• In 2008, Victim 3, who lived in the United Kingdom and France, entered into an agreement with Rittersbach to restore a 1926 Rolls Royce “Silver Ghost” he had purchased from an acquaintance of Rittersbach. By December 2021, Victim 3 became suspicious that Rittersbach was not performing the restoration work and requested verification, at which time Rittersbach became unresponsive to Victim 3. Subsequently, Victim 3 hired a private investigator and an attorney, who were able to locate the Rolls Royce in late April 2022. However, very little restoration work had been done.