Brent Snavely

Detroit Free Press

Some of Fiat Chrysler Automobiles' U.S. dealers are getting subpoenas from the federal government related to an investigation into how the automaker reports monthly sales, the Free Press has learned.

The document requests that come with the subpoenas are extensive and cover several years.

"I have some clients that have received them," said Leonard Bellavia, senior partner with Bellavia, Blatt and Crossett in New York — a firm that specializes in representing auto dealers. "The document requests that they have received will keep them busy for months. It's unnecessary."

Automotive News was the first to report earlier this week that some FCA dealers are being subpoenaed to provide documents and/or testimony to a federal grand jury in Detroit.

FCA confirmed on July 19 that it is under investigation by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission for the way it reports sales and said it has received similar inquiries from the U.S. Justice Department.

On Tuesday, FCA issued a lengthy statement explaining how it reports sales. The automaker also revised its monthly sales for every month going back to January 2011 and said its 75-month streak of year-over-year monthly sales increases actually ended in September 2013.

FCA declined to comment on Friday when asked about the dealer subpoenas.

Spokesmen for the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission and the U.S. Department of Justice also declined to comment.

Bellavia is the attorney who initially filed a lawsuit in federal court in Chicago against FCA US on behalf of dealerships owned by the Napleton Automotive Group. He is no longer involved in that case.

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Some of his clients have been asked to provide the home and mobile numbers for all employees over a period of years as well as any and all records pertaining to cars that were sold briefly but that ended back in dealership inventories.

He argues the government should be able to get all of the information it needs from FCA.

"It is what we call unduly burdensome discovery," Bellavia said.

Earlier this week, FCA acknowledged that it discovered 4,500 vehicles that dealers reported as sold even though they were only temporarily sold to subsidiaries or rental companies and then were later "unwound."

The automaker points out that the 4,500 sales it discovered represent just 0.06% of the 7.7 million cars and trucks it has sold since 2011.

Contact Brent Snavely: 313-222-6512 or bsnavely@freepress.com. Follow him on Twitter @BrentSnavely.