West Herr buys Subaru store from Jeff Lash

Dealer Jeff Lash, who was indicted earlier this year on federal fraud charges, sold a New York Subaru dealership in August to West Herr Automotive Group.

The acquisition of Spurr Subaru in Brockport, N.Y., from Jeff Lash and Danielle Lash gave West Herr its second Subaru dealership.

Jeff Lash is the same Lash who is a former managing partner at GPB Capital Holdings and who was indicted in February on federal securities fraud charges, along with former GPB CEO David Gentile and Jeffry Schneider, owner and CEO of Ascendant Capital, sources confirmed to Automotive News.

Lash, who lives in Naples, Fla., according to federal prosecutors, oversaw investments into dealerships from 2013 through early 2018 for GPB, an alternative asset management firm that until last month was majority owner of Prime Automotive Group. Lash, who owned and operated several dealerships before joining GPB, was alleged to have defrauded GPB investors and was indicted on charges of conspiracy to commit securities fraud, conspiracy to commit wire fraud, securities fraud and wire fraud.

Lash has pleaded not guilty to all charges.

Separately, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission in a February civil complaint charged GPB and individuals including Lash of operating a Ponzi-like scheme.

Lash’s lawyer did not respond to multiple requests for comment, and Lash couldn’t be reached for comment.

It’s unclear whether Jeff Lash owns any other dealerships. The Subaru store had been owned by Jeff Lash and Danielle Lash since 2019, according to a West Herr blog post.

West Herr, which bought the store on Aug. 31, has renamed the dealership West Herr Subaru of Brockport. Brockport is west of Rochester, N.Y. The group has owned West Herr Subaru in Orchard Park, N.Y., southeast of Buffalo, since 1994.

“All of us at West Herr are excited about representing the Subaru brand in Brockport,” West Herr CEO Scott Bieler said in a statement. “Already representing Subaru in Buffalo, we know firsthand the quality of their product and the benefit their product brings to western New York.”

West Herr said it expects the Brockport dealership to sell 1,000 new vehicles and 800 used vehicles a year.

The Brockport Subaru store is the group’s 30th dealership. With the acquisition, West Herr now has seven dealerships in the Rochester market. In April, it bought Vanderstyne Toyota in Rochester.

West Herr, of Orchard Park, N.Y., ranks No. 22 on Automotive News‘ list of the top 150 dealership groups based in the U.S., with retail sales of 29,085 new vehicles in 2020.