A car salesman was accused of having defrauded the manufacturer Stellantis of more than 6 million pounds in a sophisticated fraud.
Federal officials said Apollon ‘Apollo’ Nimo, 34, used discount codes to bring Dodge, Jeep, Chrysler and Ram buyers better deals than they should have received.
Nimo – the country’s best-selling seller – has been charged with cable fraud allegedly using employee discounts for non-FCA employees.
Over a seven-year period, the FCA – now Stellantis – is believed to have lost $ 8.7 million (£ 6.3 million) as Nimo used employee purchase control numbers as discount codes to give shoppers a five percent discount on sales or Enable leasing of cars.
The apparent super seller sold 250 cars in a month alone, and his manager told investigators that he would often sell more vehicles than “entire sales departments at most FCA dealers”.
Between 2014 and 2021, nearly nine out of ten Nimo sales were linked to the discount codes, Fox 2 Detroit reported.
Car manufacturers all over the world use such discount codes to offer friends and family members better prices on cars.
With the Stellantis codes, customers receive a price reduction financed by the manufacturer. The selling dealer receives the full amount for the car.
In the UK, many automakers offer such preferential rates to employees in dealerships or at the manufacturer’s headquarters.
The car salesman, who worked at the brand’s Parkway dealer in Detroit, received $ 700,000 (£ 507,000) over seven years.
Nimo is believed to have used 268 unauthorized employee discount codes picked up from the black market on Facebook groups on Facebook groups, according to federal investigators.
He would put buyers in touch with retired FCA employees who could still get the discount codes and give them to buyers.
Buyers who questioned the legality of the deal were told by Nimo that the FCA was not investigating them.
According to Feds, Nimo’s father leased three cars from his son on special terms in 2014.
If convicted, Nimo faces 20 years in prison.
