Fine Imposed in Title Case

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Federal investigation continues
Posted: 5:10 PM Mar 20, 2008
Last Updated: 7:48 PM Mar 20, 2008

22 comments

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One of the largest car dealers in Omaha is facing a hefty fine as a result of an auto titling investigation.

Authorities found hundreds of vehicle titles on new Humvees issued to questionable addresses.

Hummer dealer Ron Huber and his attorney said nothing after offering to pay the state a $100,000 fine and continue staff training on title laws at his dealership. The Motor Vehicle Industry Licensing Board unanimously approved the fine agreement.

Eighteen months ago, Six on Your Side reported that state investigators uncovered 214 Hummers with phony titles. The $40,000 to $50,000 vehicles were registered to real addresses but not to the people who lived there.

The plan was allegedly to sell Hummers to a Missouri dealer who would export them around the world but make it look like all the vehicles had been sold in the Omaha territory. That allowed the dealership to get increased manufacturer incentives.

The state has no evidence that customers have been hurt by the scheme and General Motors settled with Huber.

This was a record fine but it is only a civil licensing matter. A criminal investigation continues on the federal level.

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Comments are posted from viewers like you and do not always reflect the views of this station.

Posted by: Anonymous on Mar 23, 2008 at 03:07 PM
Tony - you got it! That's the point of my post. After thinking about it a bit more, I'd like to ask: how do you make the same mistake 214 times with such uncanny precision? That is, they made the same mistake with such accuracy that it took an investigation to piece it together.

Posted by: BJ on Mar 22, 2008 at 03:42 PM
Hey Fred..........Kenneth Lay is dead.

Posted by: Jessep on Mar 22, 2008 at 01:41 PM
You want the truth? You can't handle the truth! Don't expect this situation to put Huber out of business. The Motor Vehicle Industry Licensing Board and General Motors don't want to truly punish Huber. He MOVES a huge number of vehicles. They might want some of the ill-gotten incentives back, but as long as he's selling high volume, they want him in business.

Posted by: MJ on Mar 22, 2008 at 01:32 PM
So the big car dealer owner got a $100,000 slap on the wrist and some free TV face time. I'm betting he still "Hummered" all the way to the bank for millions in ill-gotten gain. That measely fine will be made up, some way by the people who still buy cars from him, we can be sure.

Posted by: pete on Mar 22, 2008 at 12:43 PM
They should pull his license.. Come on people..there isn't anything lower than a car salesman..They all are a bunch of crooks.

Posted by: Tony on Mar 22, 2008 at 12:15 PM
"Ron Huber's staff made the same mistake repeatedly, accidentally..." Anonymous, one sensible question; how do you accidentally make the same mistake 214 times?

Posted by: Elmo on Mar 22, 2008 at 10:23 AM
Sounds to me like they should shut the whole Huber dealership down.

Posted by: Fred on Mar 22, 2008 at 08:38 AM
To say Ron Huber did not know about this and should not be held responsible, is like saying the CEO of Enron should not be accountable for his companies fall. Oh yeah, Kenneth Lay still has millions and a majority of former employees are struggling to make ends meet. If your name is on the building, you are responsible !! The End...

Posted by: Satisfied Customer on Mar 22, 2008 at 07:48 AM
I have purchased many vehicles from Huber Chevrolet/Cadillac/Hummer over my years in Omaha and have found every sales and service experience to be above and behoynd my expectations. I think the media is making a huge deal out of something that did not hurt any consumers and that the business has done what is necessary to take care of it. It's a WONDERFUL place to buy any vehicle. And the service department cannot be beat. Try a visit and you will change your uninformed opinions. From a life long customer.

Posted by: Anonymous on Mar 21, 2008 at 05:05 PM
So what? So a majority of Ron Huber's staff made the same mistake repeatedly, accidently titling a bunch of Hummers to U.S. addresses when shipping the vehicles oversees. It's a simple mistake, and Ron is going to train his staff to do it properly. Does that make him a criminal?

Posted by: Erin on Mar 21, 2008 at 03:42 PM
Yah, I would be willing to bet that he made LOTS more than $100K off his scheme....he should be paying lots more to the state & losing this license.

Posted by: Dennis on Mar 21, 2008 at 03:27 PM
Hummers are a sign of arrogance to begin with $100,000 is only 2 vehicles worth hardly a punishing fine

Posted by: Todd on Mar 21, 2008 at 01:45 PM
Again, while regular people have to plead guilty to something to get a plea deal, Huber just has to pay a fine and admit to nothing. It must be nice to be allowed to pay money to not have a civil record.

Posted by: BJ on Mar 21, 2008 at 01:34 PM
I think that before everyone throws stones at Mr. Huber the facts should be understood. This situation was brought on by the criminal activities of his employees, not Hr. Huber. In this state the licnse holder is responsible for the actions of anyone under his employ. The responsible parties for this criminal activity will never be licensed in the car business again. Mr. Huber has graciously accepted responsibility and paid his state due fine. The federal case is entirely different and also should be settled with a fine. The criminal acts of his employees ,hopefully ,will be incarseration. I'm positive Mr. Huber knew nothing of this and would never jeopordize his license and dealership knowingly. He's been in business too long and isnt that stupid.

Posted by: Mark on Mar 21, 2008 at 01:01 PM
Now I’ve heard everything. A crooked car dealer. At least we can still trust lawyers.

Posted by: RM on Mar 21, 2008 at 12:15 PM
And all this time I thought it was only the used car salesman that were a little shady.

Posted by: Make me wonder on Mar 21, 2008 at 10:45 AM
Makes you wonder how this guy can still continue to do business and still be in business. I am shocked as to why he is still allowed to operate a car dealership under these circumstances. I am also not understanding why he is still in business. A 100k fine is nothing compared to what the FEDS will do hopefully if they decide he broke the law including international laws. I wouldnt buy my car there. He is sitting filthy rich while his employees are barely making minimum wage and all he could think about was making more money for himself. I guess he didnt realize that if he was caught not only would it impact him, but his employees as well. Did he ever stop to wonder if his business were to shut down due to his indescrepancies that it would not only impact his workers but to the community as well? Greed sometimes equates to stupidity and Mr. Huber, your justifications were anything but unethical!

Posted by: Mary O. on Mar 21, 2008 at 09:32 AM
Goodbye, Huberrrrrrrrrrr!!!

Posted by: Anonymous on Mar 21, 2008 at 08:58 AM
I will never buy a car from there either. Car dealerships have a bad rap to begin with-a bunch of greedy #$%#@!!! They should serve jail time plain and simple.

Posted by: HMG on Mar 20, 2008 at 09:43 PM
I can't wait for the Feds to decide what they plan to do with this dealership... I sure hope they don't let them "BUY" their way out of it with $100K! It doesn't make sense to put the average citizen in Prison for committing Fraud but let a large, multi million dollar car dealership off. It's safe to say I will NEVER buy a car from this dealership. And please do not tell me that Mr. Huber and his people did not realize this illegal scheme was happening under their noses, they knew exactly what they were instructing some $10 an hour employee to do.

Posted by: Kathy on Mar 20, 2008 at 09:41 PM
Huh, guess if you have enough money you can buy your way out of anything.

Posted by: Tom on Mar 20, 2008 at 08:36 PM
Kinda sounds like a scheme of vehicle laundering something like money laundering. Maybe he needs for lose his license for a year.