CHARLESTON, S.C. — A lawsuit filed late last week charges various employees at two Charleston area car dealerships of falsifying income statements and using fictitious trade-in models to help customers qualify for financing on vehicles they could not afford, a violation of the state’s regulatory act governing car dealers, The Post and Courier reported this week.

Employees with Rick Hendrick Dodge Chrysler Jeep Ram and Northwoods Auto Sales, both located in the Charleston area, are named as defendants.

According to The Post and Courier, Northwoods provided Hendrick’s sales managers with “junkyard” titles from scrapped cars to use in sham trade-ins. The scheme allegedly served as a means for the dealer to help low-income buyers fraudulently obtain financing in order to boost sales and income for the store.

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