GNYADA September 2017 Newsletter

Leon Geller Remembered 18

In 1990, Mr. Geller was Greater New York’s nominee for the Time Magazine Quality Dealer Award. He was also named a NADA Charitable Foundation Ambassador in 2014. “Leon was a strong believer in the idea that dealers need to be part of GNYADA to make sure their collective voices are heard and their businesses are protected,” said GNYADA President, Mark Schienberg. Mr. Geller is survived by his sons, Dr. Charles Geller (Kim) and Russell (Allyson), as well as his four grandchildren, Payton, Marisa, Melanie, and Jason. His wife of 55 years, Muriel, passed away in 2016. On behalf of the Board of Directors and staff of GNYADA, the Association expresses its heartfelt condolences to the Geller family and the staff at Beck Chevrolet for their loss. do further research to confirm the result. Is the customer located in the same area as the person on the list? Do they have the same date of birth? If not, there may be a false match. If there are many similarities, dealers should contact OFAC’s hotline (800.540.6322) for verification. Criminal penalties for OFAC viola- tions can include fines of up to $10,000,000 and imprisonment for up to 30 years for willful violations. Civil penalties range from $250,000 to twice the amount of each underly- ing transaction, up to $1,075,000.

working at the dealership in 1964, becoming Dealer Principal in the mid-70s. Mr. Geller was a highly active member of the GNYADA Board for almost forty years. Joining the Board in 1984, he was named to the Executive Committee in 1986 and became Chairman in 1989. He also served on several Association Committees, including Auto Show and Public Relations, and was Chairman of the Finance Committee. In addition, Mr. Geller was a Director of the Association’s Services Corpor- ation and the Head Trustee of the Association’s Health & Welfare Trust. Mr. Geller played many roles within the Association over the years. He was deeply involved in the New York International Auto Show’s relocation from the old New York Coliseum at Columbus Circle to its current home at the Jacob Javits Convention Center in 1987. compile and sell reports that included erroneous OFAC alerts, while failing to provide those alerts in the reports they provided to their consumers. For this reason, TransUnion was also found to have violated the Fair Credit Reporting Act, which added to the owed penalties. Dealers are required to ensure their staff checks every customer’s name against the SDN list ( https://sanction- ssearch.ofac.treas.gov/ ), regardless of how they pay. If a customer’s name matches the SDN list, the dealer must Always Double-Check OFAC Matches

Former GNYADA Chairman of the Board Leon Geller passed away on Sunday, August 13, 2017, at the age of 90, after a long illness. Mr. Geller was the Dealer Principal at Beck Chevrolet in Yonkers, New York. Beck Chevrolet, which Mr. Geller co- owned with his son, Russell Geller, has been part of GNYADA for nearly five decades. Mr. Geller began

Credit Company to Pay $60 Mil for OFAC / FCRA Violations 19

A federal jury found that TransUnion owes $60 million to customers that the credit reporting agency wrongly flagged as terrorists or drug traffickers because they happened to have simi- lar names. This occurred because TransUnion did not double-check results that showed matches between their customers’ names and those included on the Specially Designated Nationals (SDN List), maintained by the Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC). Despite being sued by one of the wrongfully flagged individuals, TransUnion allegedly continued to

Greater New York Automobile Dealers Association • www.gnyada.com

The Newsletter • September 2017 11