Champion Porsche hopes to earn money by 12 October from customers that are equal to their deposits.
Champion Porsche in Pompano Beach, Florida, has agreed to repay more than $ 2.5 million in deposits that approximately two dozen customers deposited for special 911 GT3 and GT2 RS models with a former employee reportedly spending the money put the bag and never ordered a vehicle.
Champion, the biggest Porsche dealer in the country, wants to "make sure that these victims – that's what we call them – come out of a customer satisfaction perspective as satisfied as possible," says Roy Diaz, lawyer for Copans Motors, who does business. as Champion Porsche.
Diaz said the dealer hopes to make advances to customers on 12 October equal to their deposits. Some customers are working to apply the amount of their down payments to a new vehicle transaction, Diaz said.
Diaz said his law firm was busy finalizing the terms of the deal last week, asking customers to assign their claims to Champion Porsche. The dealer would then try to recover the money through his pending lawsuit against the employee – former salesman and marketing vice president Shiraaz Sookralli – his wife, another employee and a shell company that Sookralli would have checked, Champion Autosport.
The dealer will advance the money, and "we evaluate the different options for recovery," Diaz said.
Last month, a judge ordered a Champion Autosport account to be frozen at Bank of America, but Diaz said that there was only about $ 40 in it.
Copans Motors has also asked a judge to block four personal bank accounts linked to the suspects who have received transfers from the Champion Autosport account. The dealership looks for records for three bank of America accounts and one Chase bank account, according to court documents.
A hearing was held on Friday, September 28, and Copans Motors asked for confidentiality. Diaz declined to comment on the outcome.
Porsche refused last week to comment on his previous statement that Champion Porsche had informed him of the situation and "assured us that it will help Porsche buyers who may have been affected."
Law enforcement also continues to do research, Diaz said. At least two customers – one in New York, another in California – filed complaints from the police saying they had deposited money into a Champion Autosport account for rare vehicles they had never received.
The residence of Sookralli is still unknown, but the dealer said in court that it had contact with him by e-mail.
A year ago, Champion Porsche, Sookralli and another company he governed, were mentioned as co-defendants in a lawsuit based on a similar plan. In that case, the prosecutors said that they had paid Sookralli and his company a $ 500,000 down payment for a high-end Porsche that was never delivered. The lawsuit went to mediation and a secret settlement was reached. a
Urvaksh Karkaria contributed to this report.