Two former Parkway Chrysler-Dodge-Jeep-Ram salesmen in Michigan have pleaded not guilty to defrauding Stellantis (which operated as FCA at the time of the crime) shortly after being charged with conspiracy to commit electronic fraud.

Lawyers for Apollon Nimo and Farrah Bottris Bahoo, the two indicted sellers, said their clients had done nothing wrong. The attorney representing Nimo alleged that Stellantis was well aware of what the sellers were doing, reports Automotive News.

The men are facing charges after they were accused of using discount codes intended for use by family members of Stellantis employees during sales and rentals. Nimo, in particular, was accused of defrauding Stellantis of $8.7 million through the use of employee rebates between 2014 and 2021, in a complaint filed last year by federal prosecutors.

Read more: A salesman cost FCA $8.7 million after offering employee discounts to just about everyone

In May, the men were formally charged with conspiring with each other and “other persons known and unknown to the grand jury” to sell the codes to customers and apply them to transactions. Prosecutors say Nimo sold 250 vehicles in a single month in 2020 — more than most FCA dealerships sold in a month — and was using the scheme until his arrest in 2021. Bahoo, meanwhile, worked in his crew.

Patrick Hurford, Nimo’s attorney, however, argues that his client did not steal employee discount numbers and sell them, as alleged. He says Nimo used legitimate employee-generated discount codes at a time when Stellantis was accused of paying dealers to lie about sales figures.

“It’s well known in the industry that some automaker employees, including Stellantis employees, sell their discount numbers,” Hurford said. “Some of these employees even rely on this source of income. FCA knew it. Stellantis knows it. Nobody stopped him because he increases sales.

Stellantis settled a federal antitrust lawsuit in 2019 in which it was accused of pressuring dealers to submit fraudulent sales figures. As part of the deal, he paid a $40 million fine and had to restate five years of US sales results.

The investigation into Nimo and Bahoo, however, was launched when Stellantis employees began complaining that their personal discount codes were being used without their consent. In 2019, FCA provided investigators with a list of 268 employees whose discount numbers had been reported as being used without authorization. All were linked by prosecutors to sales made by Nimo.