N.J. Senate won't vote on bill advocated by 'sham' business

TRENTON — Senate President Stephen Sweeney said Monday that he did not plan to hold a vote on a bill that would benefit a South Jersey business that state investigators say is a "sham" with ties to the mob.

"I don't see me moving it any time soon," Sweeney (D., Gloucester) said in a brief interview.

Lobbyists hired by Cumberland County-based New Jersey Dealers Auto Mall (NJDAM) have been pushing for legislation that the state's top motor vehicle regulator says would gut his ability to regulate used-car dealers.

In a December 2015 report, the independent State Commission of Investigation described New Jersey's used-car business as a haven for fraud. It said NJDAM served as "the foundation for an amalgam of consumer and bank fraud, unpaid taxes, suspicious financial transactions, and other questionable, unscrupulous, and possibly illegal activities."

Investigators said the business' owner, Louis Civello Jr., had familial and financial ties to organized crime. Civello has described the report as "fiction."

The Assembly passed the bill in March on a 71-0 vote, and the Senate Commerce Committee approved it in May. Lobbying disclosure forms listed NJDAM as the only client advocating for the legislation.

The bill would eliminate a requirement that new- and used-car dealers maintain business hours, require regulators to provide five business days' advance notice of scheduled audits, and give car dealers three business days to provide proof of compliance in the event of an unannounced audit.

Raymond Martinez, chief administrator of the Motor Vehicle Commission, said in a recent interview that these and other provisions would make it easier for unscrupulous dealers to operate from unlicensed locations, which is against the law, and make it harder for consumers and regulators to seek recourse.

Sweeney's comments came after the Inquirer published an article this month detailing NJDAM's lobbying of lawmakers on the legislation.