It seems that no one is safe from the wake of destruction and the money pit that is known as Bernie Madoff. A recent set of documents files in the U.S. Bankruptcy Coupt in New York expose some well known names in the dealer business: Robert Potamkin of Potamkin Automotive in New York and South Florida; Robert Rosenthal, head of Rosenthal Automotive in the Washington area; Miami dealer Norman Braman; Peter Paris, a vice president of Potamkin Cadillac; the employee profit-sharing plan of Bay Chevrolet in Rockville Centre, N.Y.; and funds from the Minneapolis dealership Metro Motor Imports Inc. Bernie has been charged with milking billions of dollars form clients around the country and the world in what’s described as the world’s largest ponzi scheme (also known as pyramid schemes).

There are no actual values of the amount lost by the dealers in question, but Robert Potamkin was quoted as saying, “I lost enough to be aggravated about it. Luckily, we believe in diversification.” Apparently, several listings for the Potamkin group is the family’s charitable trust fund are in the documents. In a Friday, February 6th phone call, Potamkin said that fund may have lost $1 million. But he said his personal accounts, which also lost about $1 million, could recoup most of the loss through insurance.

In this already shaky time for dealers, a poor investment can spell absolute destruction for a dealer. Keeping your online and offline presence intact is getting harder with people like Bernie Madoff running around. Hopefully, his trial (and conviction) will serve as a deterrent from others who wish to do the same in the future.

2010 Ford F-150 SVT "Raptor" Simulator

Here’s another set of pictures from Sunday at the show, in addition to some travel pictures. I’ll be commenting on them later today, but in the mean time, here’s some tasty bits to keep you enticed:

EasyAutoSales @ NADA 2009, New Orleans (Sunday)

Above is a picture of the greatest simulator I’ve ever played. As good as stuff like Ferrari 360 Challenge and some of the newer games with hydraulic actuators are, nothing can compare to this simulator. When I flipped the truck it spun me around and twisted me at like 45 degree angles. These never quite give the feel of how much grip your car has on a road, but in every other sense, it was amazing. The sound of the V8 was spectacular. The pedal feel was nice. Seat and stearing wheel were accurate. HUGE props to Ford on this one. This place was almost busier than Aspen Marketing with the Playboy Bunnies!

“Rapper 50 Cent was left red faced in London on Friday when he found himself locked out of his Rolls Royce.” It seems that all that money can’t buy you out of the embarrassment of getting your keys locked in the car. As you can see by the pictures below, 50 and a friend of his are having quite some time “breaking” back into the Roller. Just goes to show money does not buy common sense.

Source: TheCarFanatic