Fox Toyota president calls fraud scam ‘very painful and frustrating’
The owner and president of the Fox Auto Group is denouncing the behavior of those arrested in connection with a fraud scheme involving former Fox Toyota employees.
Steve Fox tells ABC-7 he had no idea his employees were scamming customers.
“We treat each other with courtesy and respect, and to find that we have some employees took advantage of us is very, very painful and disappointing,” Fox said.
The alleged scheme took place in between November 1, 2015 and February 5, 2016.
“In this particular case, when we went to the El Paso Police Department, I was very pleased the white collar crime division took an interest and really, really worked very hard to uncover a lot of the stuff that was going on,” Fox said.
Police said the investigation is still on going. ABC-7 is working to obtain criminal complaints with the hope of learning more about the alleged scheme. Police Monday only said seven people were arrested in connection with a fraud scheme and “several criminal incidents.”
Fox said these types of scams are prevalent in the auto industry because there are so many different sales being conducted.
“You operate a business under a premise that the people you’re doing business with are honest; the people you employ are honest. So, you’re not really looking at everything under a microscope,” Fox said. “When there’s a conspiracy they can really mislead you for a long period of time.”
Fox said there really is not much to do in order to avoid this. “I don’t know how to really do it much different. You hire the best people you can. You trust them, you empower them, and you have to believe that 99 percent of the people are good honest people,” Fox said. “The one percent that want to lie, cheat and steal. They’re going to do it. You can’t stop them.” Fox said the thing that bothers him the most is their motives. “Was it worth it? Why was it worth it,” Fox said. “Some of these people have good jobs, good families and good futures — and why throw that away?” To see the full list of those arrested and the charges they are facing, click here.
