Vehicles repossessed from car lot that was subject of customer complaints
A repossession company moved in on Great Buys Auto Sales in Lower Sackville, N.S., this morning, removing at least 19 vehicles from the used car lot.
John Lodge, owner of Scotia Recovery Services, told CBC News his company was hired by a financial institution to seize a number of vehicles from the business. The cars seized included high-end makes, such as Range Rover and BMW. Lodge said his company is now trying to locate at least another 30 vehicles that have gone missing over the last 72 hours.
At one point, RCMP were called about a reported assault at the car lot. Lodge alleges he was assaulted by Darren Blumenthal, the man who runs Great Buys. RCMP say no one was injured and their investigation is continuing.
Last year, a CBC Investigation revealed a Beaver Bank couple's costly experience with a car purchase from Great Buys Auto Sales.
In August 2015, they returned a Subaru they had bought for a total of $33,000 from Darren Blumenthal. They also gave him another $11,500 on the promise that he would pay off their bank loan.
Court documents say Blumenthal did write a cheque to the bank but it bounced, leaving the couple on the hook for the loan. Blumenthal, 48, is facing a charge of fraud over $5,000 in connection with that incident.
The preliminary hearing was held last week and a judge will deliver her decision in May on whether the case should go to trial.
Last year, Blumental told CBC News he did nothing wrong, and that if any mistake was made it was just a clerical error.
CBC News also found Blumenthal was involved in four cases involving car deals that went to small claims court.
