
It looks like things are going from bad to worse for Kevin Kinsey, a former employee of Landers Toyota of Little Rock.
He already had been charged with a felony, accused of stealing $441,000 in tires and accessories from Landers, and now he’s facing a lawsuit from his former employer for fraud and conspiracy.
Kinsey, 30, hired on at Landers in January 2014 and worked for the dealership until the end of May, when he was fired, according to the lawsuit filed by Landers’ attorney, Bruce Tidwell of the Little Rock law firm Friday Eldredge & Clark LLP.
Kinsey, who was responsible for buying tires and accessories, used JBM Tire & Wholesale LLC of Malvern as his supplier. He allegedly reworked orders to have the shipments sent straight to his house in Benton, according to the lawsuit.
Kinsey also would “take action to remove evidence” of the orders from Landers’ computer system, the lawsuit said.
JBM and its owners, brothers John McCoy and Danny McCoy, would bill Landers and “falsely reported” that the products were delivered to the dealership, according to the lawsuit.
Landers paid JBM for the items that allegedly had been delivered to Kinsey’s home. It’s unclear where the products went from there.
Landers also named JBM and the McCoys as defendants in the lawsuit. Landers is seeking the $441,000 plus other damages in the case, filed in Saline County Circuit Court.
Kinsey’s attorney in the criminal case is Stuart Vess of the Vess & Vess law firm in North Little Rock. Vess didn’t immediately return a call for comment.
Danny McCoy told us that Kinsey’s case “had nothing to do with us. He was a crook.”
He also said he can’t control what an employee or manager does with his business.
Kinsey’s criminal trial is set for Jan. 12 at the Pulaski County Courthouse.
No one has filed an answer in the civil lawsuit.