Nasser Watar, owner of the Los Angeles-area Universal City Nissan and West Covina Nissan, has sued Nissan North America for “orchestrating a deliberate and nefarious scheme” to “suffocate” his rooftops by purposely depriving them of needed inventory.

In court filings, attorneys for the Trophy Group founder and CEO accuse Nissan of retaliating against Watar in the wake of the 2018 arrest in Japan and subsequent escape to Lebanon by former Nissan Japan CEO Carlos Ghosn. The factory “sought to sever ties with individuals and entities linked to the scandal,” the lawsuit states, including a business partner of Watar’s and, ultimately, Watar’s dealerships, “aiming to drive them out of business.”

“Nissan’s conduct represents an abuse of power and a blatant disregard for proper and fair business practices,” writes Amnon Siegel, an attorney with Miller Barondess LLP, in a release. “We will not allow Nissan to unlawfully eliminate a trusted and dedicated dealer through manipulation and bad faith and look forward to the opportunity to present our case to a jury.”

In a recent, unrelated case, Hyundai North America was ordered to pay $3.3 million to a Florida dealer who accused the factory of unfair allocation practices. Retaliation also was alleged by attorneys in that case; in 2018, the dealer won a multimillion-dollar judgment relating to an unsuccessful bid to claim two Genesis franchises.

Read more at Business Wire