hf1

Fascinating story.

David HUDGENS

That show Ozark is great! I love it and binged the first season when it came out.

IRS investigators say: Follow the money and you'll find the crime.

From a recent Jalopnik article, there are hints and clues which point to a concerted effort by Sookralli to get off the grid and hide as best as he and his can from everyone.

These statements in the article kind of jumped out at me.

zx5go

stealthpilot

Agree completely. It is nice for business owners to hold the position that an employee was rogue and they didn't know. If everyone accepted that logic, businesses wouldn't need insurance. They could blame everything on employees.

In real world, and in courts, most people hold companies accountable for activities conducted by their employees on their premises. It is reasonable when you walk into a car dealership that you are not met with a fraudulent individual who uses his dealer provided role, computer and offices for defrauding customers.

Dr Chill

Just returned from Champion after spending an hour there talking to my salesman and the general manager. Champion issued a public statement this morning and said that they have already been in contact with almost every defrauded customer and have either given them an allocation spot at MSRP, or told them they will be reimbursing them for all monies stolen from them by their rogue employee. The statement is:

"As the Porsche community has learned, Champion Porsche together with approximately 20 valued customers have been defrauded by a former employee who utilized a fictitious entity to divert money customers believed were deposits for limited GT special order vehicles. The issue was discovered on September 4th and Champion has been diligently investigating and dealing with the matter since. Champion had no records of the fraudulent deals and has been assembling documentation with the assistance of cooperative customers. A civil lawsuit has been filed against the former employee, together with others who appear to have been involved in the fraud. Law enforcement has been contacted and Champion is fully cooperating with their investigation.

Champion Porsche understands, and shares in the outrage that this issue has caused. We are working diligently to investigate, and confirm which customers were impacted, and fully intend to stand by our customers to assist them. It is Champions intention to insure that each customer impacted by this matter receives the amount delivered to the fictitious entity under a fraudulent order.

Champion Motors has enjoyed a stellar reputation for decades. That reputation was earned through Champions commitment to customer satisfaction. While no one is immune from being the victim of fraud, Champion Motors will successfully manage this issue by putting customers first and assuring that each customer receives the proceeds that were delivered to the fictitious entity, under a fraudulent order."

SS was described as a decent guy who was felt by most to be "family" with the ownership. He usually did not have a significant presence at the dealership and was mostly involved with the Motorsports division which is housed at a different location nearby. He was always easily approachable and seemed to be helpful to everyone. Nobody I spoke to had any idea he was an elite con-man. That's how good he was at it. Another Madoff type.

All this being said, I still believe Champion is a quality operation that will make everything right with their customers, so I kept my deposit intact. Nobody had an explanation why SS wasn't fired 2 years ago after the 911R lawsuit. Champion however was released from the suit and SS paid the money back to the plaintiff.

stealthpilot

People from South Florida have an unusual tendency to these problems. I lived in Miami for 15 years, and I noticed many of my neighbors spent way above their means. At first I used to think I was poorer than them, and then I realized that I saved 50% of my income and they spent 120% of theirs! The mantra of South Florida is "fake it till you make it". A mantra that leads to these types of outcomes.

David HUDGENS

Thank you for the update, Dr. Chill.

911therapy

Its a gray area in the law. if you pay it to the dealer as dealer markup, then you will pay sales tax on it. If you pay it to a broker or anyone separate from the dealer, and then buy the car separately from the dealer, then most likely will not pay sales tax. But, if you ask the department revenue in each state, I am confident they will tell you that you owe tax on the entire amount including ADM regardless of how paid.

David HUDGENS

Kind of sad, isn't it? I see that just about everywhere, but certain areas are very blatant about it.

I'm just looking forward to retirement and spending my hard earned money on travel and good food and car events.

Diablo Dude

Huh?
They are the "victims" ???

How about being total idiots for not having any capital controls in place (checks and balances) and instead, allowing a SINGLE EMPLOYEE to engage in shady GT sales practices?

On so many levels, their negligence and incompetence is appalling.
This clown was a walking liability and they were clueless?

Get real.
It was amateur hour to say the least.

STG

Oh really???

Will any of the victims confirm??? I'm suspect this is 100% accurate, even 50% accurate.

993KHTO

I WONDER HOW HE PAID THE MONEY BACK?

sampelligrino

Thanks for sharing and you absolutely have the right to decide for yourself whether you want to do business with Champion or not, same goes for anyone else. Only the person cutting the check should decide for his or herself where he or she wants to spend their hard earned money. That being said I don't see why Champion would be forthcoming or completely honest when they are staring down the barrel of losing you as a customer, IMO they are heavily incentivized to say or do whatever it takes to reassure you that their hands are as clean as possible... just my 2 cents. Their "apology" statement seems to try and dispel what they've been caught doing without fully coming clear especially as it relates to the R transactions and how/why SS was still inexplicably employed, family or not. I wouldn't do business with them if they were the last dealer in the country and I would trust Champion about as far as I could metaphorically "throw" their 30k+ sq ft facility. But just my opinion and it's completely fair to have a different perspective

usctrojanGT3

With some ADM deposits of course.

usctrojanGT3

Talk is CHEAP, until they either refund the deposits and/or provide GT cars to those folks affected their statement means NOTHING!