By Scott Buttram
BIRMINGHAM –A Trussville woman was arrested Tuesday after a 16-count indictment was returned by a federal grand jury last week. The indictment was unsealed on Tuesday morning, U.S. Attorney Joyce White Vance announced.
Kimberly H. Branch, 34, of Trussville was arrested at Serra Nissan dealership in Center Point where she worked as the controller for the company.
Federal Bureau of Investigation Special Agent in Charge Roger C. Stanton and Internal Revenue Service-Criminal Investigation Special Agent in Charge Veronica Hyman-Pillot joined Vance in announcing the arrest.
The indictment against Branch, 34, of Trussville, was unsealed Tuesday morning following Branch’s arrest at the car dealership.
According to a statement released by Vance’s office, the indictment includes charges of a conspiracy and wire fraud related to a scheme to defraud Nissan North America Inc. between March 2013 and April 2013.
According to the charges, Branch and others at Serra Nissan allegedly falsely reported cars as having been sold at Serra Nissan in Birmingham in order to obtain additional incentive payments that the dealership did not earn.
This process, called “pooling sales,” occurs when a dealer owns or is associated with more than one dealership and combines or attributes sales from one dealership to another in order to meet sales incentives levels that each dealership would not reach on its own.
The indictment states Branch is the controller at Serra Nissan and alleges she was responsible for instructing another Serra Nissan employee to create false documents to hide the fraud, in the event Nissan North America audited the dealership.
The 15 vehicle sales fraudulently reported at Serra Nissan caused Nissan North America to pay the dealership ,750 in incentives, according to the indictment.
Branch becomes the second Trussville resident and the ninth Serra employee charged in the alleged fraud conspiracy at the dealership.
Last week, Abdul Islam Mughal, 49, of Trussville was sentenced to 30 months in prison after pleading guilty to his role in the fraud.
Gerald R. Shepard, 56, of Pinson, Michael J. Wilkinson, 56, of Moody, D. Scott Burton, 36, of Odenville, Terry W. Henderson, 39, of Pleasant Grove, Roland W. Riley, 28, of Birmingham, Dwight A. Perry, 44, of Birmingham, and Jeffrey R. Green, 33, of Porterdale, Ga. have all pleaded guilty and still face sentencing for their roles in the conspiracy.
FBI and IRS-CID investigated the case, which Assistant U.S. Attorneys Amanda S. Wick and Jennifer S. Murnahan are prosecuting.
