Fiat Chrysler ‘cooperating’ with federal investigators
▻http://www.detroitnews.com/story/business/autos/chrysler/2016/07/18/fca-investigation/87253660
The investigations apparently stem from two Fiat Chrysler dealerships owned by Illinois-based Napleton Automotive Group. They filed a civil racketeering suit against the automaker in January, alleging the company, among other claims, offered dealers money to report unsold vehicles as sold. That complaint was amended in March to include additional Napleton-owned dealerships and to amend and add other details, according to court records.
[…]
The amended federal lawsuit alleges that the automaker’s North American-based operation “knowingly endorses and encourages the false reporting of motor vehicle sales by directly rewarding its district managers and business center directors with monetary and quarterly bonuses which are directly related to reported vehicle sales numbers.”
The civil racketeering suit alleges that dealership principal Edward Napleton was asked to falsely report sales of 40 vehicles in exchange for $20,000 in incentives by Fiat Chrysler to the dealer. It says that would have been distributed to him “as a credit under the disguise as cooperative (‘Co-Op’) advertising support.” Napleton, the suit says, “immediately rejected” the alleged proposal.