A prominent Florida RV dealer is up on charges of theft of state funds. Gigi Stetler, 62, was arrested Wednesday night, June 26, and is facing a possible 30 years behind bars if convicted.
The details
The State of Florida says Stetler, through her parent company, RV Sales of Broward, has “collected and failed to pay a minimum of $471,447.35 in sales tax” to the Florida Department of Revenue from May 2019 to June 2023. These charges are outlined in a probable cause affidavit reported by local media. It’s reported the sales were through her operation, Planet RV in Dania Beach.
Florida officials say the government has tried collecting back taxes through “voluntary compliance.” The affidavit says that part of their attempts included at least five telephone calls with Stetler.
Feud with Camping World boss
Ms. Stetler had been a central character in a feud with Camping World boss, Marcus Lemonis. In the past she sued Lemonis, alleging he ruined her business. Camping World has sued Stetler’s organization The RV Advisor for trademark infringement.
Stetler solicits membership fees for RV Advisor, which she bills as a Consumer Union formed by RVers with a common interest. “Our purpose is to protect consumer rights and stand together while navigating the complex RV Industry,” she notes on the organization’s website.
As of Thursday afternoon, Stetler was still in the North Broward Bureau jail on $10,000 bond, according to the facility’s records.
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Thank you, Russ and Tina! 🙂 I heard of her sometime in the past, but cannot place when or why. Given that she is feuding with Camping World’s (CW) owner, maybe that was it. Tax evasion, huh? That’s how the feds got Al Capone, wasn’t it? I wonder if the CW guy thinks of her in a similar way as the fed’s considered Capone? Well, if she’s against the CW guy, then I am for her. I wonder if these charges are accurate? Anyway, that’s enough thinking for today. 😉 Have a great day and SAFE travels! 🙂
Another Hardworking human who built a huge Business by herself getting swallowed up by government & Taxes. SADLY
Thank you, Donna! Have a great weekend and safe travels! 🙂 And good luck to Ms. Stetler! 🙂
People who have never built something themselves seldom understand. My thumbs up only negated one if the downs but you have a lot of folks in your corner on this Donna.
I have no sympathy. Obligations are obligations. Businesses know they have to pay the tax they collect for sales tax must be forwarded, and not kept.
She is not hardworking and I was there, watching her taking in consignment’s, selling them, not paying her staff their earned commissions and not paying the owner of the rv their money…. some of these people’s life savings were in their rv’s, many of them were recently widowed and she stole from them if paying, only pennies on the dollar for their consigned units and her laughing when she forced people to buy her third and fourth party bogus warranty in order to get financed and utter lies to the finance companies to get them approved for a loan when most was only receiving a $900. Social Security Check in actuality. Hard working to rob you…..
She sold my RV and never paid me, after I spent $10,000 on attorney’s she went into bankruptcy……she deserves to go to jail.
Hmmmm, you think she might have charged her customers the sales tax and then didn’t remit it to the state? Yeah, she’s a real Robin Hood.
No idea, Al C. Haven’t seen any court documents, but also lack the incentive to look. Why would she be Robin Hood? I don’t see a thread that ends at that conclusion. Thanks, have a great weekend, and safe travels! 🙂
I think AL C. was being sarcastic.
Thank you, GrumpyVet! 🙂 Have a great weekend and safe travels! 🙂
This is a reminder of certain someone’s who want back in the White House who are also tax crooks.
And has your initials?
Having a bad week huh?
Happy July 1, 2024 JB.
Another bad start to this week for you…. oh well. 🇺🇸
I’m sad to hear this has happened to Gigi, she’s the prime example of the small fish standing up to the big fish, refusing to roll over. But nearly 1/2 a million in state sales tax is big time neglect as sales tax in Florida is 6%. A very simplified observation, based on an average of $80k per RV sale, that would be $4800 per unit tax. So that means not paying the state tax she collected on about 98 units sold. I’ve owned two businesses and know it’s easy to get behind on taxes, it seems you’re always robbing Peter to pay Paul. But this is exceptional! Good luck to Gigi.
There is no way an RV Stealership would ever do this. Oh,wait a moment, just had a brain freeze.
Just to clear the air here. Sales tax is collected by a business, based on gross taxable sales, for the appropriate taxing authority (state, county, city). These monies should not be commingled with the other business accounts as it belongs to the taxing authority, not the business. Normally it is paid to the appropriate taxing authorities quarterly. Apparently she was using this money for the normal day to day operation of her business and not paying her tax bills as they came due. The only surprise here is that it took the state of FL five years to come after her! Her lawsuit with CW is a separate issue and has nothing to do with not meeting your business tax obligations.
I am from South Dakota and had a small printing business. I’m retired but still broker printing on a small scale. I do on an average 3k per month. I have to pay sales taxes to the state every month! If they don’t have their funds by the end of the following month they are asking where their money is. (I was late only once! So I know) how she went without paying for that long baffles me. Keeping the government happy is part of having a business.