Toyota of Poway Above The Law?

A former employee of the Toyota of Poway car dealership in Poway, California has come forward and provided State and Federal authorities with evidence to help expose the dealerships Illegal practices surrounding the exporting of vehicles to destinations outside the US. Shipping cars outside the U.S. is against Toyota Motor's agreement with their U.S. car dealers. The agreement policy states "Toyota dealerships in the U.S. and Alaska are not authorized to sell Toyota Motor vehicles for resale or use outside the United States." While exporting vehicles is not against California law, Toyota of Poway employees were encouraged by Vincent Castro to create bogus DMV paper work and contracts to conceal the sales from Toyota Motor Sales.

The Scheme by Toyota of Poway was carried out by the use of falsified customer information on contracts and DMV forms. This would inform Toyota Motor Sales, The California DMV and The California State Board Of Equalization that the vehicles were being shipped to another state. This false information would prevent The State of California from knowing the vehicles true ownership or location and from identifying the company making a profit from the export of the vehicles. The deliberate structuring of contracts is a crime in the state of California and throughout the US. The false transaction records would also be subject to fines for violations of the Patriot Act. The fines for violations can be substantial. Depending on the program, criminal penalties can include fines ranging from $50,000 to $10,000,000 and imprisonment ranging from 10 to 30 years for willful violations. Depending on the program, civil penalties range from $250,000 or twice the amount of each underlying transaction to $1,075,000 for each violation. [11-16-07]

The cost to the California tax payer is substantial with an estimated average sales price of $35,000 per vehicle shipped under false pretext at a 7.75% avoided sales tax for each; the estimated loss of revenue for the state of California is Roughly $150,000.00 in lost sales tax, and could be potentially higher. The injured workers find this ironic as the dealership was recently given Three Million of Taxpayers funds from the City of Poway in the name of redevelopment. It is unclear if the individuals exporting the vehicles paid State or Federal taxes on the profit from these structured transactions. Several local business in the City of Poway complained of the use of Tax Payer dollars to fund the building of a new Toyota dealership, at a Poway City Council meeting in August of 2010.

The Owners of The Dealership Troy Duhon and Vincent Castro sought to have a three year restraining order placed against their former manager, when he began to speak of the dealerships Toxic Mold in the used car building and other operating procedures. The Sales Manager was given one week's pay and ordered to hand over his keys to the store. The manager was then followed home where he had to turn over his demo vehicle to Toyota of Poway employees. While the dealership claims the manager was given a one weeks paid absence, the former manager was clearly fired for exposing Toxic conditions at the dealership and other operating procedures.

The injured workers stand in Solidarity and will no longer be threatened or silenced by Vincent Castro, Troy Duhon and their Attorneys. The owners have also submitted incomplete and false reports about the buildings true conditions. While Vincent Castro has admitted to his store having mold, he claimed in a North County Times interview it was in just one unused back room. The pictures Mold Inspection reports and videos at http://WWW.MOLDTRUTH.WORDPRESS.COM cleary show The dealer again misleading the public, employees and State and Federal agencies on the working hazards. The injured workers of Toyota of Poway hope that this information will give them the vindication, and access to medical treatment and lost wages they have been stripped of after being made ill from the unhealthy working conditions at the dealership.