GELCO & GE Fleet Services Sue Hecker for $7.2M

EDEN PRAIRIE, MN – GELCO and GE Fleet Services sued Hecker and four of his businesses in federal court May 13 for allegedly defaulting on $7.2 million in car leases that Hecker personally guaranteed, according to the Star Tribune.

U.S. District Judge Susan Richard Nelson approved a petition May 13 asking that attorneys with Briggs & Morgan could withdraw from an older case because Hecker had no money to pay them. In that case, Matthew Reingold, a former Hecker employee, sued on behalf of himself and other former employees, alleging that they did not receive the required 60-day notice before being laid off from Hecker's Rosedale Dodge, Rosedale Leasing, Rosedale Fleet Leasing, and Walden Fleet Services firms, reported the Star Tribune.

As recently as last year, Hecker was one of Minnesota's largest auto dealers, claiming $6.8 billion worth of auto sales and service. In less than a year, Hecker has shut or sold 25 of his 26 new and used car dealerships, in addition to putting his Advantage Rent-A-Car business in bankruptcy court and selling its assets in April to Hertz Rent A Car for $30.2 million, according the Star Tribune.