State v. Christy Pontiac-GMC, Inc.

Christy Pontiac (defendant), a car dealership, ran a manufacturer rebate program in 1981. When customer James Linden picked up a car after his rebate window had already closed, salesman and mid-level manager Phil Hesli offered to try to get him the rebate anyway, then submitted a rebate application to GM with Linden's forged signature, falsely dated within the eligible window, and signed the form himself as "Sales Manager or Officer of the Company." Weeks later, when customer Ronald Gores was told he was ineligible for a rebate because his purchase date had passed, Hesli again submitted a forged application on Gores's behalf with a false sale date, this one countersigned by dealership officer Gary Swandy. Both customers eventually discovered the forgeries from copies of their applications and told owner James Christy; when Christy spoke with Gores, he offered to pay him half the rebate to settle the matter, and it was only after the Attorney General's office contacted him that Christy canceled the (already GM-approved) rebate for Gores. Christy Pontiac was convicted of two counts each of theft by swindle and aggravated forgery, and appealed, arguing a corporation cannot be criminally prosecuted for these offenses and that the evidence was insufficient to tie the dealership itself to the acts.