9th Lawsuit Filed Against Rep. Buchanan

In the latest in a flurry of lawsuits against U.S. Rep. Vern Buchanan, another former high-level employee alleges fraudulent practices at one of Buchanan's car dealerships set up to benefit the firm's owners and partners.

Timothy Thornton, who worked on and off from 2002 to 2006 as a finance director or finance and insurance manager at Buchanan's Suncoast Ford in Port Richey, filed a lawsuit this week alleging that the dealership falsified documents, evaded state taxes and ripped off customers and its own salesmen.

Thornton also alleges that some of the resulting money was then funneled into an offshore account set up for Buchanan and his business partners by John Moran & Associates, an automotive company whose products were sold at the dealership.

Darrin Chrisman, one of Buchanan's business partners, said he had not seen the lawsuit, but denied the allegations.

"Everything I've seen so far," Chrisman said, referring to the eight other lawsuits filed against Buchanan and his businesses since May, "has been absolutely false. And as for the offshore issues, we have regulations that we follow through the state of Florida. Everything we do is perfectly legal."

A spokeswoman for JM&A could not be reached.

Buchanan's spokeswoman, Sally Tibbetts, said the congressman would not respond to Thornton's lawsuit and directed inquiries to Chrisman, who is a partner at Sarasota 500 LLC, the company registered with Florida to operate Sarasota Ford, but not Suncoast Ford.

"Vern is busy being a congressman, and this is a corporate matter," Tibbetts said. Later, in an e-mail, Tibbetts called Thornton's case "just another in a series of politically timed lawsuits."

Buchanan is running for a second term in District 13, which includes all of Sarasota, Hardee and DeSoto counties and part of Manatee County.

Thornton's lawsuit is the ninth case filed against Buchanan or his businesses since May. The lawsuits are being handled by Tallahassee lawyer Doug Lyons.

The lawsuits allege consumer fraud and have accused Buchanan of violating federal campaign finance law, alleging his employees were pressured for donations and reimbursed for their contributions during the 2006 Republican primary.

The cases target a few of Buchanan's Florida car dealerships - including Suncoast Ford, Sarasota Ford and Venice Nissan Dodge - or the companies registered with the state to operate them.

Six of the cases have been filed by former executives, including four former finance directors, one former director of operations and one former controller.

In July, Buchanan's lawyers rejected a $43 million settlement offer from two former finance directors.