- Report: #1502531
Complaint Review: Banner Ford LLC of Mandeville Louisiana - Mandeville Louisiana
Reported By:
Dan Cooper -
Baton Rouge, Louisiana, United States
Submitted:
Updated:
-
Author Confirmed
Why?
Banner Ford LLC of Mandeville Louisiana
1943 N. Causeway Blvd Mandeville, 70471 Louisiana, United States
Phone:
9852545500
Web:
www.bannerford.com
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Banner Ford LLC of Mandeville, Louisiana Steve Aertker Banner Ford- PPP/Covid Bailout Funding Fraud Mandeville Louisiana
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Banner Ford Reported for Alleged Payroll Protection Program Fraud
BATON ROUGE, LA, December 8, 2020: In response to the devastating negative economic impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic, the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act was passed into law in March 2020. The CARES Act authorized the Small Business Administration (SBA) to provide and/or guarantee loans specifically designed to keep small businesses afloat during the unprecedented financial challenges brought on by the pandemic.
Unfortunately, several companies and individuals exploited these programs for their own financial gain and sought relief payments through a series of false and fraudulent representations regarding their businesses’ existence, gross revenue, and number of employees in order to receive Economic Injury Disaster Loans (EIDL) and/or Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) loans. As a result, the SBA’s Office of Inspector General is now aggressively investigating cases of suspected fraud and criminal charges have been brought against numerous companies and individuals by the U.S. Department of Justice.
Car dealerships have become prime targets of these investigations. Accountable.US, a non-partisan watchdog group created to expose PPP fraud and corruption, has compiled data from the Small Business Administration that U.S. car dealerships have received between $7.6 billion and $11.89 billion in PPP funds in the second quarter of 2020. While Automotive news has estimated these bailout funds likely saved at least 740,000 jobs, they have struggled to explain the numerous inconsistencies it had seen between applicants.
One such example involving a car dealership came into focus this week after a former sales representative for a Pennsylvania-based dealership group launched a federal lawsuit against their ex-employer alleging that it had violated the False Claims Act in relation to PPP. The Blaise Alexander lawsuit accuses the dealer group of actively forcing the sales team to reimburse it for the PPP funds by withholding sales commissions.
While the alleged employee reimbursement plan is a new trick, consistent with old tricks such as the spot delivery scam, Blaise Alexander is hardly the first company to be accused of PPP fraud. Neyra Motor Cars of Cincinnati was also accused of PPP loan fraud by a former sales representative in October. Automotive dealerships were among the largest recipients of COVID-related funding in 2020, making them prime targets for anybody hunting for financial misdoings. Meanwhile, the whole of the automotive industry had taken in an estimated $132 billion in government loans by July, with numerous entities being forced to give some of that back after people became outraged. For example, both AutoNation and Penske Automotive applied for PPP and took heat for it for being so large.
In Louisiana, 1011 car dealerships have received a total of $233.86 million in PPP funds making the average award per dealership was $231,312. Banner Ford, located in Mandeville, LA was awarded $2.72 million in PPP funds which has made them a prime target for those hunting financial misdoings. While Banner Ford is not the only suspected bad actor when it comes to PPP loan fraud, when compared to other similar Louisiana car dealerships receiving PPP funds, Banner Ford’s award is highly inflated and has prompted a request for the Office of Inspector General to further investigate their application and resulting receipt of funds. The payroll costs submitted by Banner Ford were significantly higher than other comparable dealers by an order of magnitude.
By comparison, Peake Motor Company in Kenner, LA was awarded $973,800, Ford of Slidell was awarded $890,164 and Nissan of Slidell received $374,877. One logical conclusion to this anomaly would be that Banner Ford grossly inflated their annual payroll costs which increased the amount of their taxpayer funded bailout. Banner Ford is claiming their annual payroll costs are seven times higher, or more, than comparable car dealerships in Louisiana.
While this fact alone doesn’t necessarily mean Banner Ford has acted illegally, but It does suggest that Banner Ford, at a minimum, violated the spirit of the law. “Banner Ford should have never been eligible to receive this amount of PPP funding due to its size alone”, stated Rick Nordham the former CEO of n*g Financial who currently works as a PPP loan consultant to businesses. Mr. Nordham further stated, “A proper investigation by authorities could shed light on possible nefarious conduct by Banner Ford, these are serious allegations and the U.S. taxpayers deserve serious investigations”.
In addition, car dealerships in the U.S. were considered ‘essential businesses’ and never mandated by the government to close their doors and stop conducting business. This fact aside, car dealerships did initially see a major loss in revenue in the second quarter as a direct result of the lock downs and general consumer anxiety. However, when Congress injected over $1 trillion into the consumer economy through stimulus awards and generous unemployment payments, sales by car dealerships went through the roof as much of these funds were used by individuals to either purchase or upgrade their vehicles. In fact, car dealerships experienced such a windfall that currently there is a crisis due to lack of availability of used cars on the market and new car production continues to increase at record levels.
Banner Ford is a victim of their own greed, arrogance and incompetence. Allegations of extortion and manipulation of financial documentation to illegally secure government funds should not be taken lightly. Banner Ford needs to understand this is not their typical petty offenses of spot delivery scams and withholding vehicle state sales tax funds and license plates from individuals who have purchased vehicles from them. While violation of state law will likely result hefty fines and loss of licenses to sale vehicles in the future, fraudulently obtaining federal funds could result in long federal prison sentences. Some would argue this is karma, and the arrogance and greed of Steve Aertker, Joshua Spell and Walter Butler has finally caught up with them. Most would suggest they immediately start correcting their ways, following the law and conducting business in an ethical manner to mitigate any future consequences of their actions.
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