Racketeering suit names LV auto auctions, dealers

David Strow

Friday, Aug. 13, 1999 | 11:17 a.m.

An Indiana auto financing company sued 10 Las Vegas auto dealers, two Las Vegas auto auction houses and two California companies, alleging they are tied to a car fencing operation.

The firm alleges the defendants fenced $1.63 million in cars it held title on.

The federal lawsuit alleges violations of the RICO anti-racketeering law.

Truckers Bank Plan Inc. alleged the fencing operation was run by Sam and Nicole Ladki of San Diego, who allegedly own nine car rental operations, including Ladki International Rent-A-Car, which Truckers said was located near McCarran International Airport.

Also named as defendants were Manheim Greater Nevada Auto Auction and Lamb Sales and Leasing, both of Las Vegas.

Truckers also sued 10 Las Vegas auto dealers: Chapman's Dodge, Chaisson Motor Cars, Towbin Nissan, Towbin Infiniti, Towbin Jeep/Eagle, United Nissan, AutoNation USA, Las Vegas Chrysler-Plymouth, Hollis Used Car Sales and Kenneth Simkins Used Cars. Truckers didn't accuse the dealers of having any knowledge of the ring, but says that each one purchased autos from the ring, then refused to either return the cars or proceeds from the cars to Truckers once informed.

The Ladkis and Lamb could not be reached for comment. A Manheim official declined comment.

According to the lawsuit, Truckers began lending funds to the Ladkis in June 1996 to purchase a rental car fleet. The company said it held liens on all of the cars sold to the Ladkis, and that the cars could not be sold without its authorization.

Rather than using the cars for rentals, the Ladkis conspired to sell the cars through Manheim, Lamb and R&M Industries Inc. of California without Truckers' knowledge, the lawsuit said. The three auctioneers accomplished this by forging dozens of title certificates, lien release forms and bills of sale, Truckers claims. When questioned about these forms by motor vehicles officials in Nevada and California, the lawsuit says the defendants told them the original title certificates had been lost.

Once new certificates were issued, Truckers said the cars were sold to the three auctioneers, who then resold them to more than a dozen different dealers in Nevada and California, all without informing Truckers. Truckers said it was unable to determine this was occurring because in the car rental business, most of a company's fleet will not be on the premises at any given time.

About 200 cars financed by Truckers were sold with forged certificates, the lawsuit claims. The lawsuit also says the ring sold more than $4.5 million in cars financed by two other companies.

Many of the cars were since resold to consumers, and have been scattered throughout the West, primarily in California, Nevada, Utah and Idaho. Truckers said it has demanded compensation from the dealers who acquired the cars, but said each told it that its title on the cars was extinguished when they were sold. Truckers is asking for a judicial order that its titles to the cars be found the superior title, and that all remaining cars be returned. Funds from those cars that were sold should be surrendered by the dealers and placed in constructive trust, Truckers said.

The Ladkis have since defaulted on all outstanding loans to the company, Truckers said. The company requested a judicial order freezing all automobiles remaining in the Ladki inventory in order to preserve collateral for Truckers' claim, since it believes the Ladki companies are on the edge of insolvency.