photo by: Chad Lawhorn/Journal-World

A Kansas Highway Patrol Vehicle blocks the driveway of the Lawrence Kia dealership on Sept. 4, 2025.

UPDATED 2:05 P.M., SEPT. 8

Multiple state and federal agencies are investigating Lawrence Kia and several of its related companies for conspiracy, theft and other allegations, the Kansas Department of Revenue has confirmed.

As the Journal-World reported on Thursday, Kansas Highway Patrol troopers blocked the entrance to the Lawrence Kia dealership on East 23rd Street, and multiple law enforcement officers were seen scouring the property.

In a written statement sent to the Journal-World, the Kansas Department of Revenue on Monday confirmed that action was part of an execution of a search warrant at the business. Multiple agencies have joined forces to investigate the company and several other related companies, the statement said.

“The Kansas Department of Revenue Office of Special Investigations is leading a joint investigation with Kansas Office of the State Bank Commissioner, Kansas Attorney General’s Office, Kansas Highway Patrol (KHP), Internal Revenue Service (IRS) and United States Secret Service (USSS) on allegations of Conspiracy, Theft and Making False Information concerning Lawrence Kia, Dream Automotive and Dream Nissan in Lawrence,” the revenue department said in the statement.

The statement said Thursday’s Kansas Highway Patrol presence at the Lawrence Kia dealership was part of a the execution of a search warrant. The statement also said the investigation is ongoing, and that further details won’t be released at this time.

photo by: Chad Lawhorn/Journal-World

Kansas Highway Patrol officers on Sept. 4, 2025 were on the scene of Lawrence Kia, 1225 E. 23rd Street.

On Thursday, law enforcement officers blocked both the driveway to the Lawrence Kia dealership and the front door to the dealership’s offices for several hours. A reporter on scene saw what appeared to be dealership employees standing outside the building, unable to access their offices. A passerby later in the day reported seeing law enforcement officers leaving the dealership offices with boxes.

Chin Rajapaksha, general manager at Lawrence Kia, told the Journal-World on Monday that he does not know what led to the investigation, but said that law enforcement officials did take some physical documents related to auto deals made by the company. Rajapaksha said he also wasn’t given a timeline for how long the investigation may take.

“I have no idea,” Rajapaksha said when asked what he thought had spurred the investigation. “They wouldn’t tell me what it is. This is very, very unusual. We have called them, we have asked them and they said ‘Chin, once we are done with the investigation, we will send you a report and send you more information.”

Given that the Kansas Department of Revenue is responsible for enforcing state tax collections, there has been speculation in the community that the matter involved unpaid sales or withholding taxes. Rajapaksha said that’s not the case.

“There are a lot of rumors going out saying we didn’t pay our taxes,” Rajapaksha said. “You see all of that on social media. That is definitely not the case. As you know, if we didn’t pay our taxes, they wouldn’t allow us to do business and continue to collect sales tax.”

The Lawrence Kia dealership indeed is open, and has been since about 3 p.m. on Thursday, when law enforcement officials completed their search in the building, Rajapaksha said. He said officers also conducted a search at two other buildings — the company’s corporate offices across the street from the Kia dealership, and the Dream Nissan building that is next door to the Kia dealership.

Rajapaksha said those buildings were cleared to reopen at about 8 p.m. on Thursday.

While the details of the current investigation are unknown, the dealership has found itself mired in legal controversy before.

As the Journal-World reported in June 2023, an arbitrator awarded more than $14 million in damages to a group of 31 customers who had alleged they were the victims of a loan scheme that involved false information being submitted to lenders.

Douglas County District Court Judge James McCabria upheld the decision of the arbitrator. In June 2023 the Journal-World reported that there were signs of an imminent settlement between the parties and the dealership, which could have appealed McCabria’s ruling to a higher court.

Rajapaksha on Monday confirmed the company reached a settlement in that matter after McCabria upheld the arbitration ruling. Details of that settlement haven’t been released.

The Journal-World in June 2020 was the first to report on allegations that officials with the Lawrence Kia dealership were altering loan applications of some of their customers. The allegations at the time centered on the idea that local Kia officials were inflating the monthly income totals of customers who were seeking financing to buy a vehicle from the dealership.

A source at the time provided the Journal-World with documents for more than a dozen customers that showed income amounts on loan applications did not match the income amounts customers had provided to the dealership.

The contention was that such higher income levels might make it more likely that a customer would be approved for a loan or give customers confidence in buying a more expensive vehicle than they originally envisioned.

Arbitrator Leland Shurin indeed found that the Kia dealership’s “scheme of misconduct” increased the dealership’s gross profit by roughly $1.2 million, according to the judgment in the case.

It isn’t clear whether the most recent investigation has any connection to those allegations. However, some of the agencies participating in the current investigation do focus on loan-related allegations, including the Kansas bank commissioner, and the Secret Service, which has primary federal investigative authority for identity theft.

Rajapaksha, though, told the Journal-World he doesn’t think this most recent investigation is connected to the past matter.

“I think these are two separate issues,” Rajapaksha said. “That is what we originally thought too. That was from five years ago, and five years ago when it happened there was no such investigation like this.”

photo by: Chad Lawhorn/Journal-World

Kansas Highway Patrol officers on Sept. 4, 2025 are shown on the scene of Lawrence Kia, 1225 E. 23rd Street.