Hyundai Motor America (HMA) has been awarded $1.9 million in com-pensatory and punitive damages in a fraud and racketeering lawsuit. The suit was filed against the principals of a paintless dent repair company, Ace-A-Dent, Inc., Gary Bowman and Dennis Hallam and a former HMA fleet remarketing employee, Robert Corder, following a week-long jury trial in Las Vegas. Under the federal Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations (RICO) statute, Hyundai filed on July 5, 2001 to have the damages tripled. The suit, filed by HMA in federal district court in Nevada, claimed the defendants conspired to defraud Hyundai through a system of fraudulent invoicing and schemes to divert funds to shell corporations. HMA filed suit upon discovering massive fraud perpetrated by Ace-A-Dent for dent repair services that were never, or not properly, performed. Hyundai claimed that Ace-A-Dent's fraudulent billing practices led to extreme overcharging, and that, due to Ace-A-Dent's failure to perform adequate repair work, the value of Hyundai fleet vehicles was diminished.