GT car / Salesman - Shiraaz Sookralli - Champion Porsche's VP of Marketing
09-12-2018, 10:17 AM
#92
Agree 100% with this statement. As a former very satisfied customer of Champion (bought my 996 from Jim Hahn back in the good ole' days of the dealership) and the owner of a law firm right up the street, this can get very ugly, very quickly. If anyone else in management had reason to know this was going on over time (which is likely with all of the accounting reports and controls available today), then it could very well be game over. And, I find it very hard to believe that nobody knew this VP was taking more orders than he could fill -- which obviously means more deposits -- which means some set of controls should be in place wrt those deposits. If this goes the distance, we're going to see many instances where reasonable controls were either not in place, or were purposely or negligently disregarded. If I were Champion, every last check would have already been in the mail immediately upon discovery of this very unfortunate situation.
09-12-2018, 10:18 AM
#93
If he had a business bank account, he'll need corporation documents and what not. Shouldn't be hard to figure it out with the state corporation commission. Just doesn't make any sense, you know other people at the dealership must know, probably the gm. When i've had deposits at dealerships(usually credit cards), I also go and talk to the gm just to get to know them and just talk to them, hoping it'll help me get the car sooner. Plus, wouldn't the gm/accountant whoever monitors the bank accounts notice there are no deposits on cars? Just all seems far fetched, who knows, may make a good american greed episode.
How many people will go to champion and say they had a deposit but never did? I guess the person who put the deposit would hopefully have some sort of proof, wonder if anyone paid a deposit in cash.
Good luck with him ever finding another job
How many people will go to champion and say they had a deposit but never did? I guess the person who put the deposit would hopefully have some sort of proof, wonder if anyone paid a deposit in cash.
Good luck with him ever finding another job
09-12-2018, 10:19 AM
#94
Rennlist Member
Agree 100% with this statement. As a former very satisfied customer of Champion (bought my 996 from Jim Hahn back in the good ole' days of the dealership) and the owner of a law firm right up the street, this can get very ugly, very quickly. If anyone else in management had reason to know this was going on over time (which is likely with all of the accounting reports and controls available today), then it could very well be game over. And, I find it very hard to believe that nobody knew this VP was taking more orders than he could fill -- which obviously means more deposits -- which means some set of controls should be in place wrt those deposits. If this goes the distance, we're going to see many instances where reasonable controls were either not in place, or were purposely or negligently disregarded. If I were Champion, every last check would have already been in the mail immediately upon discovery of this very unfortunate situation.
This is all hearsay though so take it for what it’s worth
09-12-2018, 10:22 AM
#95
Not anything to compare to this, but I sent a decent size deposit check into a Porsche dealer back in late 16'/early 17' for a GT deposit (was told #2 on the list) and somehow when I inquired about that this summer (1.5 years later), I was told that the check was not deposited and that it was found in someones desk drawer along with a print out of our email conversation. No one ever bothered to cash it (which I knew looking back in my statements), but yet, no one had any idea where it had gone until they decided to search for it after the SA I worked with had departed the dealership.
Point being, I dont find it hard to believe that this could happen with a dealership the size of Champion - and with someone who had the reputation as stated here, it does not seem all that difficult. In my situation, it was not hard for the SA to hang onto a check and hide it, same could be said for Champion.
Point being, I dont find it hard to believe that this could happen with a dealership the size of Champion - and with someone who had the reputation as stated here, it does not seem all that difficult. In my situation, it was not hard for the SA to hang onto a check and hide it, same could be said for Champion.
09-12-2018, 10:32 AM
#96
7th Gear
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I’ve heard from several folks that he set up a fake company and ran the deposits there, without ever involving Champion’s financial infrastructure. Never told anyone at Champion about the deposits. Fabricated build dates and commission numbers and rode the wave until it was about to be obvious the cars didnt exist and it became time to cash the checks. Absolutely insane.
This is all hearsay though so take it for what it’s worth
09-12-2018, 10:39 AM
#97
Not sure why so many expect PCNA to step up. Dealerships are a different entity and are totally separate from PCNA. The power PCNA has over its dealerships is shown in the ADM situation. Again, Champion got in trouble once before with PCNA and nothing really happened (other than limited access to early information)
09-12-2018, 10:48 AM
#99
Three Wheelin'
Not sure why so many expect PCNA to step up. Dealerships are a different entity and are totally separate from PCNA. The power PCNA has over its dealerships is shown in the ADM situation. Again, Champion got in trouble once before with PCNA and nothing really happened (other than limited access to early information)
09-12-2018, 10:50 AM
#100
From what I’ve learned, Shiraz, long time salesman for Champion, took significant deposits on specialty cars that apparently didn’t exist. Champion discovered it because Shiraz, again long time employee and representative of Champion, has left town, vanished...likely in Mexico or maybe at the bottom of the Atlantic. This scam has apparently hit allot of consumers. Champion made a real bad move when they referred all communication on this thru their legal team. I have no idea how deep this gets but it sounds pretty deep. If I’m Porsche, I would have serious concern from this fall out. This is catastrophic IMO.
09-12-2018, 10:50 AM
#101
All I can say is WOW.....
And I would bet good money Champion will take care of everyone that lost money.....it won't happen overnight and they will need time to sort it out but they will likely make good on it....they are ultimately responsible for the employees actions.....
And I would bet good money Champion will take care of everyone that lost money.....it won't happen overnight and they will need time to sort it out but they will likely make good on it....they are ultimately responsible for the employees actions.....
09-12-2018, 10:51 AM
#102
I haven't done business with Champion so I can't comment on them BUT do you really think they never got a call with concerned customers? The VP was running a Ponzi scheme, I'm sure Champion got calls from people inquiring about their deposits.
I definitely want to give the dealership the benefit of the doubt because, like I said, I've known Jim for a very long time and he is a terrific guy. The problem is that these deposits are individually very significant. It's not like small amounts of $20, $40, $100 streaming into a large operating account. These are large amounts that should be going into a segregated account (i.e. not the operating account). Dealer management gets financial dashboard reports weekly, maybe even daily. How does nobody realize that either (a) there is no deposit account; or (b) it is not going up with all of the customers expressing interest in GT cars. I suppose the only explanation would be external accounts but that is impossible to run for too long. Eventually customers call and invariably catch a time when the fraudster VP is out at lunch, or off that day, or on vacation, and they end up speaking to other people about their order (especially if the order is taking longer than expected, or they want to make changes and need to do so asap, etc. -- they want to talk to anyone at that point, even if the person says they will pass the message along when the fraudster VP gets back -- this is how many frauds get busted). It will be very interesting if we could ever learn what the defrauded customers have to say about who they interacted with, etc. That will really be when we can determine whether or not the entire dealership should have known.
09-12-2018, 10:51 AM
#103
Three Wheelin'
Literally and figuratively speaking. I would not have imagined like this can happen.
Hoping those who were scammed get their monies refunded ASAP.
Drive safe,
GT3RS-Fan1
Hoping those who were scammed get their monies refunded ASAP.
Drive safe,
GT3RS-Fan1
09-12-2018, 10:51 AM
#104
It's a classic scam. An employee of a company, usually the accountant or book keeper, sets up an account only they know about. They deposit company checks in it. Then they write themselves a check.
