|
Dealership owner seeks payment plan to resolve civil lawsuit
|
|
|
|
Tuesday, 15 January 2008
|
Cliff Buchan
News Editor
The owner of the Ford dealership in Forest Lake said this week he is working on a payment plan in an attempt resolve a civil case filed against him in U.S. District Court last week. John Berken confirmed on Tuesday that American Express has filed suit in an attempt to freeze nearly $4 million in property and assets of Forest Lake Ford, 231 SW 19th St.
The dealership has used an American Express credit card for its line of credit in running the dealership and buying inventory, Berken told the newspaper. He said on Tuesday the lawsuit came as a surprise.
“We’ve been making payments,” he said. “We were nine days late (when the suit was filed).”
Berken confirmed that the dealership had utilized the credit line for just under $4 million in credit, but was making payments.
Berken said the dealership had made a $200,000 payment shortly before the lawsuit was filed in federal court.
He said the civil matter should not impact the daily operation of Forest Lake Ford.
He said the dealership was open for business and it was his goal to be proactive to what is a tough economic market. Berken said the dealership is not for sale.
He said he has turned the matter over to his attorney for the formation of a payment plan that he hopes will quickly resolve the issue. Berken denied that he or the dealership had used the line of credit in any fraudulent manner.
According to Forest Lake Police Department records, no criminal charges have been filed in the matter here and no criminal investigation is in process.
Other crimes
In other police news during the week, officers are proceeding with a criminal investigation of an alleged fraud case involving a cashier at Wal-Mart, 200 SW 12th St.
Chief of Police Clark Quiring said the investigation will consider possible felony charges of fraud or theft by deception in a case that dates back a year.
Quiring said the cashier, a 25-year-old Isanti woman, has been confronted by the store for allegedly taking an estimated to $20,000 during the past year.
Once the investigation is completed, the matter will be turned over to the Washington County Attorney’s Office for formal charging, the chief said. The woman has not been charged with a crime and has not been arrested, he said.
Police continue to receive reports of thefts of mail from residential mail boxes.
In one report, a credit card taken from a resident was unsuccessfully used in an attempt to buy a television at a local store.
Police in Forest Lake are also investigating a pair of vandalism reports from early Sunday morning.
Chief Quiring said the first incident was reported at 4:25 a.m. when a home owner in the 1300 block of SE 16th Avenue was awakened by the sound of the living room picture window being broken. A 1998 Dodge pickup parked in the driveway also suffered extensive window damage.
Quiring said $3000 in damage was listed.
At 5 a.m. on Sunday, police were called to the 200 block of NW 4th Street where three windows of a vehicle parked in the driveway had been smashed out.
A golf putter found at the scene was likely used to break the windows, Quiring said. No arrests have been made.
|
