What exactly was Ben's scam?

bump

also wanna know

Sounds like he sold cars out of trust falsifying contracts by using VINs of vehicles he didn't own. Therefore reporting sales that weren't actually made. Manufacturers pay bonuses and help support dealers by paying interest on their floorplans according to the number of cars they have in inventory and how many they sell. He also might had his business managers sign people up on balloon note plans and/or leases and told them they were retail contracts.

He may have been selling cars that were floored by a finance company and then not paying them off. The "phantom cars" were these floored cars that were still supposed to be on the lot.