Nesen Motor Car Sues Ex-CEO in Family Battle
The now-defunct Nesen Motor Car Co. has sued its former chief executive officer, Gary D. Nesen, alleging that he concealed debt and mishandled the company’s money.
Filed earlier this month in Ventura County Superior Court, the lawsuit alleges that Nesen--son of company founder and chairman Robert D. Nesen--concealed company debts owed to creditors until after the 1996 sale of the firm and used $2 million in company funds and property for his personal benefit.
The civil action comes two months after Gary Nesen of Westlake Village filed a $10-million civil suit in Los Angeles County Superior Court against his father.
That suit claims that 78-year-old Robert Nesen, a Hidden Valley resident and former US ambassador to Australia, sought to benefit from the November 1996 sale of the business while leaving his son in financial ruin.
Also named in that suit were Encino-based attorney Norman J. Hoffman, who has represented the Nesens for 15 years, and Grant Webster, an attorney who worked on the sale.
A hearing is scheduled for today on a motion to move that case to Ventura County.
Gary Nesen could not be reached for comment.
Hoffman--who is representing the car company, which is now under Robert Nesen’s control--alleges in the most recent lawsuit that Gary Nesen “deliberately and intentionally concealed” the fact that the company owed creditors $1 million until after the sale.
In addition, Gary Nesen engaged in “illegal appropriation” of the company’s cash, credit, assets and property, according to the suit.
“Following the sale, an outside certified public accountant submitted a report which indicated that substantial sums were paid out to Gary Nesen or at his direction for which [the accountant] could not find proper substantiation,” Hoffman said.
In court documents, Gary Nesen is alleged to have owed the corporation $882,159 at the end of 1993. The amount plus interest is now $1.6 million, according to Hoffman.
In all, Nesen owes the company about $2 million, according to the suit.
Beset by financial problems, the family-owned business--based in the Thousand Oaks Auto Mall and at one time Ventura County’s largest auto dealer--was sold in 1996 to John Anderson, owner of Silver Star AG Ltd.
Anderson, who already owned 10 dealerships in the auto mall, added nine more with the purchase of Nesen Motor Car Co.
Robert Nesen founded his first Ventura County dealership, Nesen Motors, in Oxnard nearly half a century ago.
Nesen Motor Car Co. was formed in 1987 by merging several auto dealerships owned by members of the Nesen family.
Upon formation of the new corporation, Robert Nesen turned over management and control of the company and its dealerships to his son Gary, according to court documents.
In the early 1990s, Nesen’s nine dealerships boasted annual sales of $200 million and had more than 200 employees, according to company officials.
The company suffered a setback in 1995, when Nissan Motor Acceptance Corp.--the financing arm of the Japanese auto maker--sued for more than $5 million.
That lawsuit alleged that the Nesen company failed to pay for $1.2 million in sold vehicles from its Infiniti line, and demanded immediate repayment of a $4-million loan.
As a result, the Nesen Infiniti dealership in the Thousand Oaks Auto Mall went out of business.
