CENTER POINT, Iowa (KCRG) – Customers of an Eastern Iowa car dealership accused of a multi-million-dollar fraud scheme are speaking out about their worries amidst a lawsuit.
Details of the fraud accusations and lawsuit
Stellantis is suing Sky Auto Mall and its owners, Igor, Yelena and Alex Tovstanovsky. The automaker produces Chrysler, Jeep and Fiat cars.
Stellantis is claiming it loaned Sky money to purchase vehicles for inventory then took out duplicate loans from other lenders on the same vehicles. It also wrote in court documents that the dealership would transfer the cars in between its locations to hide the duplicate loans.
The dealership has locations in Center Point and Newhall.
The lawsuit also claims Sky kept two financial records to hide the fraud and that it did not repay the loans – taking in about $1.4 million in proceeds.
The automaker claims Sky owes $12.3 million, not…
Insurance fraud involves making false or exaggerated claims to an insurance provider.
- Hard Fraud: Someone deliberately causes a loss (e.g., setting fire to a warehouse or staging a car accident) specifically to collect a payout.
- Soft Fraud: More common and often viewed as “victimless” by the perpetrator. It involves exaggerating a legitimate claim, such as overstating the value of stolen items in a home burglary to cover the deductible.