Paid money to employer.

[Oompah100]

What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? NY

I do not know which forum to post this question to. I am employed at an automobile dealership. Part of my compensation comes from the manufacturer. I get $200 per vehicle from the manufacturer. The dealership I work for is a high volume dealership that was usually #1 in the country for its brand. They also own numerous other stores for the same manufacturer. Over the last 2 years, they have lost a lot of volume and have been showing cars sold to the factory that were never sold. The cars were shown sold under my name. I was then given the compensation of $200 per vehicle and ordered by my managers to pay them the money ($140) and hold out $60 for taxes. They then took that $140 and split it amongst themselves. I am now getting into debt with the IRS. I now owe well over $60,000 and some cars I have actually paid the dealership have been reversed and they now owe me over $10,000. I always felt threatened that if I did not comply with what they were doing that I would be fired. I do not believe what they did was legal and now I am suffering financially. Do I have any legal avenue here, or do I risk getting into deeper trouble with the IRS as well.

Thanks

 

[Ohiogal]

What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? NY

I do not know which forum to post this question to. I am employed at an automobile dealership. Part of my compensation comes from the manufacturer. I get $200 per vehicle from the manufacturer. The dealership I work for is a high volume dealership that was usually #1 in the country for its brand. They also own numerous other stores for the same manufacturer. Over the last 2 years, they have lost a lot of volume and have been showing cars sold to the factory that were never sold. The cars were shown sold under my name. I was then given the compensation of $200 per vehicle and ordered by my managers to pay them the money ($140) and hold out $60 for taxes. They then took that $140 and split it amongst themselves. I am now getting into debt with the IRS. I now owe well over $60,000 and some cars I have actually paid the dealership have been reversed and they now owe me over $10,000. I always felt threatened that if I did not comply with what they were doing that I would be fired. I do not believe what they did was legal and now I am suffering financially. Do I have any legal avenue here, or do I risk getting into deeper trouble with the IRS as well.

Thanks

Hey cool -- you all participated in fraud. You can all go to jail for this. Theft by deception and you participated. You were complicit. Get an attorney. You need one. You won't just get in trouble with the IRS but also with the state. Sounds like this could be considered a felony. Say nothing but get legal counsel.

 

[Oompah100]

Hey cool -- you all participated in fraud. You can all go to jail for this. Theft by deception and you participated. You were complicit. Get an attorney. You need one. You won't just get in trouble with the IRS but also with the state. Sounds like this could be considered a felony. Say nothing but get legal counsel.

Even though I was not a willing participant? They had put the cars in my name without my authorization and then demanded the money from me. I always felt threatened if I said something.

 

[Ohiogal]

Even though I was not a willing participant? They had put the cars in my name without my authorization and then demanded the money from me. I always felt threatened if I said something.

You gave them the money per car. You participated. You didn't report them. You didn't quit. You didn't do anything concerning the theft. You just kept taking the money. And now you are upset because you owe the IRS? Ummm, the manufacturer is a victim of fraud and theft. Why doesn't that bother you? You need an attorney.

 

[Oompah100]

You gave them the money per car. You participated. You didn't report them. You didn't quit. You didn't do anything concerning the theft. You just kept taking the money. And now you are upset because you owe the IRS? Ummm, the manufacturer is a victim of fraud and theft. Why doesn't that bother you? You need an attorney.

Thank you for your advice..

 

[commentator]

I have never understood how people can do something they bloody well KNEW was illegal, and offer as a defense, "But if I didn't do it, they'd FIRE me." Boo hoo. This is an at will state. You can be fired at will, but you can also quit at will, like as soon as you were asked to do something you knew was illegal. Get a lawyer. Don't use this pitiful excuse any more for why you did it.

 

[Oompah100]

I have never understood how people can do something they bloody well KNEW was illegal, and offer as a defense, "But if I didn't do it, they'd FIRE me." Boo hoo. This is an at will state. You can be fired at will, but you can also quit at will, like as soon as you were asked to do something you knew was illegal. Get a lawyer. Don't use this pitiful excuse any more for why you did it.

I never did know that it was illegal. I was told it was common industry practice to "burn" cars and the manufacturer at times requested it be done to inflate their sales numbers for the entire country. On the last day of the month, they would have a phone call from the district rep to "burn" a certain amount of cars. So to me it did not seem illegal as I was new to the industry. Usually what would happen is that they would just reverse the cars the following month and I would never see any money. But in order for them to maintain their #1 status, they transferred cars to the other stores and showed them sold at the main store. They then collected the money from me stating that they had to pay the other sales reps, which I recently found out was not the case either. In the end I got stuck with a huge tax bill and some cars that I paid them on were actually reversed and I am owed money that I paid out to them. It is a complicated situation.

 

[Ohiogal]

I never did know that it was illegal. I was told it was common industry practice to "burn" cars and the manufacturer at times requested it be done to inflate their sales numbers for the entire country. On the last day of the month, they would have a phone call from the district rep to "burn" a certain amount of cars. So to me it did not seem illegal as I was new to the industry. Usually what would happen is that they would just reverse the cars the following month and I would never see any money. But in order for them to maintain their #1 status, they transferred cars to the other stores and showed them sold at the main store. They then collected the money from me stating that they had to pay the other sales reps, which I recently found out was not the case either. In the end I got stuck with a huge tax bill and some cars that I paid them on were actually reversed and I am owed money that I paid out to them. It is a complicated situation.

Ignorance of the law is NOT an excuse. You need an attorney.

 

[justalayman]

It is a complicated situation.

Not really.


Somewhere along the line you had to realize you were being paid (by the manufacturer) for cars you did not sell. How you can argue you thought that was legal is beyond my comprehension. Even if you did not believe it was illegal, you surely had to realize you had no valid right to be paid for those cars, right? Yet you continued to accept the money.

Even though I was not a willing participant?

but you were a willing participant.