[Southsider2k12]

http://www.southbendtribune.com/news/local...1d1b562b4a.html

By Stan Maddux Tribune Correspondent

MICHIGAN CITY — A sales manager for a Michigan City automobile dealership has been accused of pocketing more than $20,000 in down payments from car buyers.

Mark Olson, 37, of LaPorte, is charged in LaPorte Superior Court 4 with 13 Level 6 felony counts of theft and two additional misdemeanor theft counts in connection with the alleged embezzling from Michigan City Chrysler Dodge Jeep Ram at 700 E. U.S. 20. The thefts are alleged to have occurred beginning in July 2014.

Authorities and the owner of the dealership suspect the actual amount stolen is greater than $20,000. Court documents indicate charges were not filed against Olson for at least 12 other thefts authorities claim to have documented evidence of him committing.

Tom Crane, the owner, suspects Olson was taking as much as $10,000 a month during his nearly three years as sales manager. But Crane said the company has millions of dollars in annual sales and will recover.

''It hurts, but it's not going to kill me,'' Crane said.

According to court documents, Olson was pocketing cash down payments ranging from $1,000 to $3,000 per customer.
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The customers did not lose out, though, because the payments were deducted from their original balances, authorities said.

However, the dealership was shorted the down payments and the ledgers were fudged to cover up discrepancies, according to court records.

After suspicions about embezzling were expressed to him by upper management, Crane placed video cameras inside Olson's office that captured him on several occasions pocketing down payments, court documents revealed.

Crane then contacted Michigan City Police, who discovered Olson on July 3 deposited more than $29,000 into his personal account then soon made a withdrawal for $10,000.

There were numerous other withdrawals from his account at Four Winds Casino outside New Buffalo and the amount from the casino was high enough for his bank to file suspicious activity reports every 90 days, court documents revealed.

Olson, though, in a letter to Crane denied taking any money, citing satisfaction with his more than $100,000 annual salary and a desire for longevity in the work place.

But police reported that when Olson was informed of the belief that he was taking as much as $10,000 a month from the dealership, he replied ''it was closer to $3,000 a month,'' according to court documents.

Each of the felony counts carries a potential sentence of six months to two and a half years.

Olson was released from custody on $750 cash bond awaiting the outcome of the case.

According to court records, Olson, under a pre-trial diversion, was ordered in 2013 to pay restitution to Pine Ford in LaPorte, where he allegedly took an undisclosed sum working for the company in sales.

The theft-related charge was later dismissed after he paid back that company and complied with other terms of the pre-trial diversion.

[taxthedeer]

A dishonest car salesmen. Unheard of in that profession.

[diggler]

A dishonest car salesmen. Unheard of in that profession.

Yeah, I mean REALLY !

Reminds me of a movie character I once saw: