The Federal Trade Commission and Maryland Attorney General Anthony G. Brown have accused Lindsay Automotive Group of conducting a yearslong, multimillion-dollar price fraud scheme at three Washington, D.C.-area dealerships.

A lawsuit was filed Dec. 27 in the U.S. Eastern District Court of Maryland. Lindsay Chevrolet of Woodbridge (Va.), Lindsay Chrysler Dodge Jeep Ram in Manassas, Va., and Lindsay Ford in Wheaton, Md., are named as defendants, as are the stores’ management company and two executives: the group’s president, Michael Lindsay, and its COO, John Smallwood. The seventh defendant is Paul Smyth, a former employee who reportedly served as general manager at all three rooftops.

Brown and the FTC said dealership personnel refused to honor listed prices for customers — some of whom traveled from out of state — and told customers they had to complete their purchases with dealer-arranged financing.

“Auto dealers who trick consumers with bait-and-switch advertising, financing sleights of hand and unwanted add-ons should expect to hear from the FTC,” said Samuel Levine, director of the FTC’s Bureau of Consumer Protection, in a press release announcing the lawsuit. “The FTC and its state partners will continue working to combat this illegal conduct.”

In a statement published by Automotive News and other outlets, dealer group executives refuted the charges and said the group would be “vindicated.”

“The FTC ‘cherry picked’ communications that lacked relevant context to make their case. We will work to resolve this matter through the legal process,” the statement reads, in part. “No small private business should have to experience this level of scrutiny from a Federal regulatory agency, and we hope that the FTC will return to focusing on its routine law enforcement authority to protect consumers.”

Read more at FTC.gov