Feds: NIADA’s Gabler, F&I Manager Indicted for Fraud

ERIE, Pa. — Andy Gabler and Chad Bednarski of Pennsylvania’s Lakeside Auto Sales and Lakeside Chevrolet have been indicted by a federal grand jury in Erie on charges of 17 counts of conspiracy, bank fraud and wire fraud, U.S. Attorney Scott W. Brady announced.

Gabler is the former president of the National Independent Automobile Dealers Association and owner of the businesses. He abandoned his NIADA post following an FBI raid of his home and dealerships in February. Bednarski worked as a finance manager at both rooftops.

According to the indictment, over a four-year period that began around January 2015, Gabler and Bednarski falsely indicated that customers made a down payment and falsified and inflated the income of customers when submitting auto loan applications to financial institutions on behalf of customers.

In addition, Gabler caused extended warranties to be sold to customers buying a vehicle at Lakeside Auto Sales and Lakeside Chevrolet and deliberately failed to remit the paperwork and payment to the extended warranty company. Further, the defendants falsely reported vehicle sales to General Motors for vehicles that had not been sold in order to obtain expiring incentive rebates.

Finally, prosecutors added, the defendants deliberately did not inform S&T Bank when Lakeside Auto Sales and Lakeside Chevrolet sold a vehicle that the dealerships had purchased utilizing S&T Bank’s floor plan financing in order to delay and attempt to avoid the dealerships’ required payment to S&T Bank for the sold vehicles which had been purchased using S&T Bank’s floor plan financing.

The law provides for a maximum total sentence of 510 years in prison and a fine of $17,000,000 for Gabler and 330 years in prison and a fine of $11,000,000 for Bednarski.