OXNARD : Workers File Claim for Back Wages

A total of 25 former employees of Royal Carriage Buick-GMC in Oxnard have now filed claims with the state for $37,200 in back wages they say the defunct dealership owes them.

Paul Rodriguez, a deputy state labor commissioner in Ventura, said Tuesday that 15 former employees walked into his office together last Thursday to file their claims. Ten more have trickled in since then.

The dealership voluntarily closed its doors Dec. 20 as authorities were preparing to shut it down. Investigators with the state Department of Motor Vehicles contend that about 200 people who bought vehicles there may have been cheated out of about $345,000.

Robert Zocco and Chuck Royal took over the dealership at 2121 N. Oxnard Blvd. in 1989, but since February, Zocco has been listed as the sole corporate officer. Zocco is believed to have returned to Michigan. Neither Zocco nor Royal could be reached for comment.

Bill Forestelle, senior special investigator for the department, said he interviewed Zocco during his investigation and asked him where the money went. “He said it went to pay bills,” Forestelle said.

Investigators seized documents from the dealership on Dec. 13. A subsequent investigation revealed that most of the 200 car owners lost between $400 and $1,200 because they didn’t receive the extended warranties they had purchased.

Others were facing loan payments on two vehicles because the dealership failed to pay off existing loans averaging $2,000 on their trade-in vehicles. Some car owners complained to Forestelle’s office that the dealership has failed to transfer the title of their new car to them.

Forestelle said the case is still under investigation, and people with complaints can send them in writing to his office: Department of Motor Vehicles, Investigation Division, 5700 Ralston St., Suite 206, Ventura 93003.

Meanwhile, Rodriguez is not optimistic that former employees of the dealership will get their money.

“Frankly, it doesn’t look promising, given the size of the money being claimed,” he said. Other businesses, he said, also claim the dealership owes them money. And the dealership still owes $150,000 in sales taxes to the state Board of Equalization.

“The corporation has a lot of individuals after them,” he said.