Cold Patch Pavement Home Depot Watertown New York
Its car lots are abandoned and accumulated offices about deserted, about abrogation one actuality — P.J. Simao — to try to array out what went amiss at DealMaker Auto Group.
Ten years ago, DealMaker began humbly as a used-car lot on Arsenal Street. Within bristles years, it had developed into owning a core of new-car franchises beyond Northern and Central New York, with bags of cars in its account and about 200 employees.
The name "DealMaker" could be apparent on billboards, in endless TV ads and as the sole sponsor of one alms accident afterwards another. It was not aberrant in Jefferson County to apprehend addition affiliated to a nonprofit fundraiser say, "Maybe P.J. will advice us."
But by 2007, centralized abrasion began to advance amid the company's two owners, Mr. Simao and Mark V. Picarazzi. Abreast the end of the year, an analysis of the company's business practices was launched by the state. Soon after, the aggregation began to boring unravel. One dealership afterwards addition was bankrupt or sold. Charities began scrambling to acquisition new sponsors. Accompaniment and federal courts ordered the access of account afterwards the aggregation defaulted on costs agreements.
Just this month, cartage were bedeviled at the company's actual two dealerships, finer catastrophe a 10-year run that saw the cipher aggregation become one of the region's better agent retailers.
And now all that is larboard are the lawsuits.
THE COMPANY'S RISE
Mr. Simao, a absolute acreage developer, aboriginal garnered absorption in Jefferson County in May 1996, aback his company, Toped Development, bought a 3.5-acre abandoned lot off Interstate 81's Avenue 46 for $390,000. On the aforementioned day, Toped awash the lot to Cracker Barrel for $675,000, a 73 percent increase. At the aforementioned time, he bought an adjoining 13 acreage on which he afterwards developed a Home Depot.
(The Times appear in June 1996 that Mr. Simao "owns Home Depot in Syracuse. 'Toped' is 'depot' spelled backward.")
Toped has bought and awash dozens of backdrop in the region, including key bartering sites on Route 11 abreast Fort Drum, at the circle abreast the county's automated esplanade and abaft Salmon Run Mall.
But again Mr. Simao absitively to get into the car business.
DealMaker was formed in 2000 as a affiliation amid Mr. Simao and Mr. Picarazzi, a above accustomed administrator of an F.X. Caprara Auto Sales dealership. Mr. Simao provided operating basic and captivated a 75 percent buying absorption in the business, while Mr. Picarazzi, who provided his automotive administration acumen, became a 25 percent owner.
The plan was that Mr. Simao would baby-sit the company's absolute acreage moves, but not be complex in the business's circadian operations; that would be Mr. Picarazzi's responsibility.
DealMaker began affairs acclimated cars in April 2000 at Arsenal Street and Bellew Avenue South, and new and acclimated cartage at the above Seaway Ford Mercury at Route 37 and Route 68 in Ogdensburg. Afterwards that year, it took over Brown Chevrolet-Olds Inc. in Theresa and renamed it DealMaker Seaway Chevrolet. It again purchased Accompaniment Street Body Works in Watertown. That business, renamed DealMaker Dodge, was relocated from Accompaniment Street to Arsenal Street.
In August 2002, DealMaker acquired Watertown Ford on alien Washington Street. In March 2004, the business appear it had acquired Drum Honda beyond the alley from the Ford dealership, demography over in September 2004 as DealMaker Honda. DealMaker acquired the Chrysler-Jeep authorization in August 2004, affective it from Washington Street to the Dodge abundance on Arsenal Street. The aggregation additionally opened a Honda abundance in Potsdam and operated a Ford dealership in Clay.
Meanwhile, DealMaker was bound acceptable the go-to aggregation for nonprofits aggravating to accession money.
In 2001, DealMaker sponsored the aboriginal of its anniversary alms golf tournaments for the Hospice Foundation of Jefferson County, an accident that aloft as abundant as $100,000 anniversary year. That year, the Disabled Persons Activity Alignment additionally affiliated up with DealMaker to accompany big-name bedrock and country bands to Watertown. In 2004, the Watertown Noon Rotary Club raffled off a car from DealMaker as allotment of its conception of a Purple Heart Scholarship armamentarium for blood-soaked Fort Drum soldiers.
DealMaker's donations helped buy commons at the Salvation Army, accouterment at the Watertown Urban Mission and accessories for the Jefferson County STAR (Special Tactics and Rescue) dive team.
Other groups benefited by captivation fundraising contest at the DealMaker Appointment Centermost for free. Mr. Simao bought the 34,000-square-foot above Niagara Mohawk Power Corp. architecture on Watertown's Main Avenue at bargain in July 2001 for $600,000. The accord included a added architecture on the site, Niagara Mohawk's above aliment garage. DealMaker spent about $1.5 actor renovating the barn into a agent adjustment centermost and analysis DealMaker's address on its high floors, which DealMaker began application in 2002 as a advanced account ability for all of its sales centers.
By 2006, the appointment centermost had hosted the Hospice Foundation's "King George's Sideboard" fundraiser, the fourth anniversary North Country Festival of Trees, the New York Accompaniment Zoo at Thompson Park's Zoo to Do Silent Bargain and Gourmet Reception, the Samaritan Medical Center's Christmas affair and Actus Lend Lease's Christmas party.
In an account with the Times that year, Mr. Simao said, "I absolutely had no ambition of captivation contest over there, (but) it's axis out to be a abundant account for the community, and I'm animated I could do it."
INTERNAL PROBLEMS BEGIN
In public, the aggregation and Mr. Simao appeared to be accepting annihilation but acceptable days. In November 2006, the aggregation appear it had purchased Blevins Nissan on Route 56 in Potsdam, which was renamed DealMaker Nissan. And in February 2007, Mr. Simao bought Ives Hill Country Club in Watertown for $965,000.
But internally, the aboriginal in a alternation of fissures became evident.
Soon afterwards the Ives Hill purchase, according to Mr. Simao, he got a buzz alarm from a coffer cogent him the business was "out of trust" on its broad finance, or attic plan, agreements, acceptation the business had awash cartage but not forwarded any gain to the bank.
Mr. Simao said he asked Mr. Picarazzi what happened, but wasn't annoyed with the answer.
"He was captivation aback things to try to explain how they got into that position. He was aggravating to absolve what he had done," Mr. Simao said. "I told him, 'I don't accept a chat that comes out of your aperture anymore. If you appetite to say article to me, put it in writing.'"
The adventure resulted in assorted versions of a letter actuality drafted, including one in which Mr. Simao claims Mr. Picarazzi admits albatross for the banking problems. Mr. Picarazzi, who larboard the business in March 2008 and now lives in Florida, denied he wrote or active the letter, which appears to be initialed at the bottom, but never signed.
In an e-mail to the Times, Mr. Picarazzi said that Mr. Simao asked him to address a letter answer the poor banking activity of the food to abetment Mr. Simao in accepting added coffer loans. Mr. Picarazzi said Mr. Simao believed it would be accessible if he wrote the letter so Mr. Simao could argue banks and accounts companies that he could about-face the business about with new consulting and cadre teams that had been put in abode in backward 2006 and aboriginal 2007.
Mr. Picarazzi said that he did address a letter analogue his feelings, but that the letter was "drastically altered" by Dale E. Roberts, the company's accountant, and Barry M. Bourgeois, a consultant, "to fit what P.J. was attractive for."
"Once acutely altered, I would not go any further, assurance it or put any of it in acknowledged anatomy for him to use," Mr. Picarazzi said. "Most bodies who apperceive me can apprehend the letter and acquaint that I did not address that."
Mr. Picarazzi said that already he larboard the company, he was approached by added advisers who said they were pressured by Mr. Simao to abetment in accepting Mr. Picarazzi to assurance the letter and to assurance over his allocation of DealMaker's buying to Mr. Simao, neither of which he would do.
Ms. Roberts, the accountant, said she assisted Mr. Picarazzi in autograph the letter, charwoman it up grammatically, but fabricated no changes to its content. She claims Mr. Picarazzi initialed it in advanced of her. Mr. Bourgeois could not be accomplished for comment.
In the letter, provided to the Times by Mr. Simao, Mr. Picarazzi addendum that Fort Drum deployments and the banking troubles of all above American car manufacturers acquired a slump in DealMaker's business. An advancing addition in sales was never accomplished because of a adjournment in bringing a new army to Fort Drum, attributable to a apartment crunch, according to the letter.
"All food suffered," Mr. Picarazzi allegedly wrote. "I approved to advice them anniversary as they needed, cerebration I was animate to advice but was absolutely affliction us."
Mr. Picarazzi allegedly wrote that he should accept fabricated Mr. Simao acquainted of the problems eventually and that by not accomplishing so, "It has fabricated things abundant worse."
He apologized for not absolution Mr. Simao apperceive about "the consequence of the intercompany loans," which he said he acquainted "were the alone way to accumulate the Companies alive."
"I can't acquaint you how apologetic I am for how I went about this," Mr. Picarazzi allegedly wrote. "I approved to dig this out after bringing to your absorption our accurate needs."
In an e-mail to the Times, Mr. Picarazzi said it has continued been his assessment that the aggregation "grew at an alarming rate" and "was consistently abounding with too abounding costs different to the car dealership business."
"I accept alloyed affections about the end of DealMaker and am acutely afflicted for the advisers who had formed so adamantine to body it from blemish and for all of the vendors who accept not been paid for the accomplished two and a bisected years," he said.
THE STATE INVESTIGATES
In November 2007, DealMaker's attorneys told the Times that the aggregation was beneath analysis by the accompaniment advocate general's appointment for bearding reasons.
Attorney Jan S. Kublick, Syracuse, said Mr. Simao had abstruse of the analysis in aboriginal 2007 and assassin a aggregation of consultants to advance the company's "internal controls."
In January 2008, the advocate general's appointment appear that DealMaker had "systematically" delayed advantageous off cartage accustomed in barter for new cars throughout 2007. In some cases, payments had not been fabricated for added than two months, damaging customers' credit. Added than 150 barter were affected.
The aggregation conceded that its centralized ascendancy issues led to the backward payoffs, and it agreed to accomplish payments, as able-bodied as pay fines and amends as compensation. It additionally agreed to adjustment customers' acclaim reports.
Meanwhile, bounded charities began affairs abroad from DealMaker, including the Rotary Club, which approved added sponsors for its Purple Heart Scholarship raffle. DPAO, citation apropos about DealMaker's approaching banking backing, concluded its seven-year accord with DealMaker, which had sponsored the summer concert series. The 2009 alternation was sponsored by Waite Toyota in Watertown and TJ Toyota in Potsdam.
Mr. Simao, who said he has absent "many millions of dollars" of his own money aggravating abominably to prop up DealMaker, said he intends to abide to abutment charities. However, he said, there are assertive organizations area he believes some bodies complex "may not accept been loyal as I'd hoped they'd be."
"The accommodating giving has never stopped," he said. "There are some organizations that I will not accord to anymore as a aftereffect of their abridgement of loyalty. I accept aback bodies are in roles with charities they accept a albatross to do what's best for their organization. I begin it amoral that organizations that I've been actual acceptable to would casting stones aloft me."
In the aftermost year, he has offered bounded nonprofits the use of Ives Hill Country Club to authority alms golf tournaments and said he will abide to abutment the Hospice Foundation with a golf tournament.
CARS ARE SEIZED
Near the end of 2008, Accustomed Motors Acceptance Corp., a aggregation that provided wholesale, or attic plan, financing, started accompaniment Supreme Cloister activity gluttonous to accept the account of DealMaker Seaway Chevrolet seized. GMAC claimed DealMaker had defaulted on its costs acceding and capital to booty ascendancy of the business's assets. A adjudicator ordered the cartage bedeviled in February 2009.
In January 2009, HSBC Coffer USA claimed DealMaker owed it $10.2 actor for behind on a alternation of loans and addendum provided in 2006 to the Dodge and Honda dealerships in Watertown. DealMaker afterwards was able to appearance that a acknowledged $4 actor accommodation to the Honda abundance was paid, but the coffer acquired a about $4 actor acumen adjoin the Dodge store.
Nissan Motor Acceptance Corp. filed a federal accusation in February 2009, claiming DealMaker owed about $1 actor on its attic plan costs acceding for its Nissan dealership. A adjudicator ordered the dealership's cartage bedeviled in March 2009.
American Honda Accounts Corp. filed clothing in February allurement that added than 100 cartage be bedeviled from DealMaker's Honda dealerships in Watertown and Potsdam, claiming the dealerships were in abuse of attic plan and added costs agreements accretion $6.3 million. While DealMaker has filed a $16 actor counterclaim, a adjudicator on March 25 ordered the aftermost of DealMaker's new cartage bedeviled and the cartage were alien abroad beforehand this month.
DealMaker additionally has filed clothing adjoin its above broad manager, Junior J. Stefanini, and Kevin J. Caldwell, above buyer of KC Auto Sales, claiming the brace teamed up to bamboozle the company. Attorneys for the men accept asked in cloister abstracts to accept the activity dismissed, arguing no affirmation has been presented to abutment any wrongdoing.
A FINAL OUTCOME?
Mr. Simao said, that admitting the accusation with Honda Finance, he intends to "keep those food accessible and appear to some affectionate of resolution with Honda," which could accommodate the auction of the franchise.
"I don't accept any admiration to break in the auto business," he said. "But I ambition I had a clear ball, and I ambition I knew again what I apperceive now. I didn't appetite to be in the operational end of it. But I accept to be complex now to accomplish the able business accord to exit."
