mike5876

I worked there until March of 2017 we averaged about 150, new cars per month

sbelles

I don't know if it's true or not but some accounts of the story say that SS was having his salary garnished to satisfy delinquent child support for some of his ten children. If this is true, coupled with the previous incident, Champion had some good indications of his character yet they continued to employ him. Lawyers are the only ones who are going to come out ahead in this.

erko1905

I'm 100% on the no mercy camp. There's no reason to put away the pitchforks. Since when giving back what you got caught stealing and saying sorry is "making people whole"?

Larger, more important companies w more employees went down for way smaller mistakes. These guys need to be done, for good. I'd definitely blame Porsche as well if they do not take away Champion's franchise after something like this. Being a big volume dealer shouldn't allow you to get away w stealing.

The victims don't owe Champion the differentiation between Shiraaz and Champion, as far as they knew, they were dealing w Champion; he was employed by Champion for a long time; was close w owner, managing family. They had no reason to be suspicious and check whether Champion Autosports was just another DBA for Champion/Copan or not. More people at Champion not knowing about this scam is extremely unlikely, and even if they weren't in on it, the incompetence it'd take to have this happen under their supervision is enough for them to be done. Retirement awaits.

I'll make sure that anyone I know who's remotely likely to buy a Porsche (or any car for that matter) knows about what Champion is all about. Posted it to my regional PCA group.

Agreed on the whole ADM game and ridiculous chasing of GT cars preparing the environment that'd be ripe for something like this. I try to go by a simple principle: whenever I have to "earn" giving someone my business, I walk. There are a lot of other sports cars out there guys.

STG

That is correct. That's in the legal documents on page one. As is the garnishment for a $167K AMEX bill. As is the litigation against him and Champion on the 911R scam he conjured up.

Visit the first page of the thread. All listed there.

promocop

IT IS true. Bottom line to all of this?...the speculators who rolled the dice in order to make a quick buck WILL get paid back...BUT Champions reputation is forever soiled and they will never get that back. I was going to visit the dealership on way to visit son at college and maybe buy some Champion swag...not now. Leaves a bad taste in my mouth.

Turbo II

Well, since SS was supposedly highly regarded at Champion, they probably went by the words of "everybody deserves a second chance", but it worked against them in the end. I can't think of any other reason as to why else they would keep an employee like this around.

goin2drt

Amen. I would have hit the like button if there was one.

Keadog

Scorponok

Turbo II

Also get copyrights for a movie based on this :P.

$2.5M can be either a lot of money or pocket change all depending on where you live and what kind of a lifestyle you have. Seeing the house that is for sale etc. SS seems to be used to a somewhat lavish lifestyle, and so $2.5M probably won't last him much. And once he starts spending on big things it will be easy to catch him.

Bulldozer27

Damn, now that Champion's reputation is down the drain, anyone wanna buy some RS98s?

Manifold

So 1800 cars per year. Not hard to imagine that the volume SS was using for his scam slipped through without the dealer's other management people noticing. Given Champion's high overall volume and large number of real GT car allocations, seems like Champion was the ideal place for someone like SS to do this. And the timing was right too, with the bubble for GT cars being well inflated (definitely worse with the .2 cars as compared to the .1 cars). Not always easy to prevent crime if the criminal is good at crime.

Turbo II

True, but knowing of SS's previous shady dealings you would think they would keep a closer eye on him?

STG

Guys, that's 5 car deals a day. Not like they're selling iPhones.

Dr Chill

Knowing how this dealership operates on the inside, and knowing Shiraaz Sookralli, is it your opinion that this deception could exist without others at the dealership knowing?