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FBI raids car dealership on city's north side

Posted at 7:21 PM, Sep 22, 2015
and last updated 2015-09-22 19:21:52-04

INDIANAPOLIS -- The FBI conducted an investigation into a car dealership on the north side of Indianapolis Tuesday.

FBI agents were at the Elite Imports car dealership, located at 46th Street and Keystone Avenue, throughout Tuesday morning and early afternoon 

An FBI spokesperson refused to comment on why the FBI was there.

Several boxes of documents and files were been removed from the dealership.

Elite Imports lists inventory on their website as everything from mid-2000s Cadillacs to Mini Coopers and more modern sedans like the Dodge Charger. No reviews are posted to the website's About Us section.

Glenn Gay said he bought a used BMW from Elite Imports, and alleges they engaged in fraudulent credit approval practices.

"They told me that I had to come up with two thousand dollars to put with the loan because the loan wouldn't go through and it was on a Saturday, and they ended up putting me with a company out of California and charged me a 25 percent interest rate when my credit is a 750," Gay said.

Similar complaints about the company can be found online alleging the auto dealer would turn down credit and then keep customers' down payments. Other customers complained of simple bad business practices.

Call 6 Investigates also learned Tuesday that Elite Imports may have tampered with vehicle identification numbers to sell cars.

The business failed a state review in 2013. A report found 17 vehicles from 2011-2013 had title delivery issues.

In June 2014, the state threatened to revoke the dealer's license. Instead, it was determined Elite Imports would go on a one-year probation in July 2014.

In a deal with regulators, Elite Imports made promises to hire more clerks to focus on compliance issues, and made it a point to report that it pays $10,000 a month in state taxes and has never been in violation of any federal tax laws.

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