Jacksonville, Fla. — If you’re driving down Beach Boulevard on Jacksonville’s Southside, you’ll pass Karma Automotive Dealership.
Karma opened in Jacksonville in 2022. According to Sun Biz, it is owned by Vladimir “Val” Ranguelov, who also owns Bul Auto Sales in Albany, New York.
If you visit either of the dealerships’ websites, a message pops up that reads:
“We regret to inform you we have ceased operations.”
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Local television station, WNYT in Albany, contacted Action News Jax when it found out police there are investigating the dealership for potential fraud.
Customers there claimed bank loans related to cars were never paid off.
Shawn Branlund was a technician at Karma Jacksonville. On May 30th, He says he reached out to the owner after hearing of potential problems at the Albany location.
“He said to just come in on Monday, and we would talk about it, kind of explain what’s going on,” Branlund said. “On my end, I did come in on Monday to hopefully talk to the owner, Val, who never showed up, never got a hold of him. We ended up getting all our equipment out, just our personal belongings.”
I spoke to a customer of Karma Jacksonville who told me he contacted JSO on June 5th because his car was missing from the dealership.
Action News Jax obtained this video from that day that shows JSO and tow trucks taking the cars off the lot. Shawn says he never would have expected this from Val.
“He paid everyone really well, he was always taking us out on his boat, and taking us out to dinner. He’s just a super nice guy, like, and definitely never saw this coming,” said Branlund.
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We reached out to JSO late this afternoon to get the report from the day they responded to the dealership, but we have not received the report yet.
We reached out to the FBI in Jacksonville to find out if it had any active investigations in Karma Jacksonville.
A spokesperson for the FBI Jacksonville says, “The FBI does not confirm nor deny the existence or status of any investigation.”
We tried to contact the owner directly at two different phone numbers, but were unable to get in contact with him
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