# He Sold His Dealerships to a $1.8 Billion Ponzi Scheme. Then Bought Them Back! | Charlie Caprara, Owner of FX Caprara Page: https://stenobird.com/podcast/car-dealership-guy-podcast-6241497/he-sold-his-dealerships-to-a-1-8-billion-ponzi-scheme-then-bought-them-back-charlie-caprara-owner-of-fx-caprara Text version: https://stenobird.com/podcast/car-dealership-guy-podcast-6241497/he-sold-his-dealerships-to-a-1-8-billion-ponzi-scheme-then-bought-them-back-charlie-caprara-owner-of-fx-caprara.md Podcast: [Car Dealership Guy Podcast](https://stenobird.com/podcast/car-dealership-guy-podcast-6241497) Published: 2026-09-17T09:05:00+00:00 Episode link: https://chrt.fm/track/C6AG88/traffic.megaphone.fm/CREUR2261852306.mp3 Audio file: https://chrt.fm/track/C6AG88/traffic.megaphone.fm/CREUR2261852306.mp3 Processing state: not_requested JSON: https://stenobird.com/v1/public/podcasts/car-dealership-guy-podcast-6241497/episodes/he-sold-his-dealerships-to-a-1-8-billion-ponzi-scheme-then-bought-them-back-charlie-caprara-owner-of-fx-caprara Duration seconds: 3344 ## Resource Charlie Caprara is the Owner of FX Caprara, a nine-store dealer group he has built with his family over 52 years in the car business. He started selling cars out of the family's home in Watertown, bought his first store in 1990, and grew it into a multi-brand group before watching most of it sold out from under him when the new majority owners turned out to be running a massive Ponzi scheme. He speaks candidly about buying several of his stores back for no premium once the scheme collapsed, the currency exchange trick that saves him thousands on new trucks bought in Canada, and why he sent all five of his kids to start in the wash bay before letting them run a store of their own. Topics: 00:20 $1.8B Ponzi Scheme Ate The Stores. 05:35 Odometers Rolled Back On Jerome. 08:20 Hitchhikers Moved Cars Nationwide. 17:00 65 Cars A Month From Home. 41:20 Used Cars Make The Money. 48:55 Kids Started In Wash Bay. This episode is brought to you by: 1. TARGIT - TARGIT is an end-to-end business intelligence platform that gives dealers complete visibility and control over their data. Download your copy and learn more about TARGIT @ ⁠here⁠. Headed to the 2026 Digital Dealer Conference? Come meet TARGIT at Booth #737. Visit @ ⁠here⁠ for more info. 2. LotAgent – Stop stacking software. Agents are the way out.  One problem, One Agent, only $99 dollars. Try it free now here 3. CarMax Auctions - Access thousands of cars weekly at 50+ locations nationwide through our 100% online auctions. Register now for free @ here. Check out Car Dealership Guy’s stuff: For dealers: CDG Circles ➤ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://cdgcircles.com/⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Industry job board ➤ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠… ## Actions - request_transcript: `POST https://stenobird.com/v1/public/podcasts/car-dealership-guy-podcast-6241497/episodes/he-sold-his-dealerships-to-a-1-8-billion-ponzi-scheme-then-bought-them-back-charlie-caprara-owner-of-fx-caprara/transcription-requests` — Idempotently request low-priority transcript generation for this episode. - read_markdown: `GET https://stenobird.com/podcast/car-dealership-guy-podcast-6241497/he-sold-his-dealerships-to-a-1-8-billion-ponzi-scheme-then-bought-them-back-charlie-caprara-owner-of-fx-caprara.md` — Read the agent-friendly Markdown representation of this episode resource. A page view does not enqueue transcription. Agents should invoke `request_transcript` explicitly when they need this episode processed. ## Transcript Full transcripts are not published on public pages unless there is a clear rights basis.