A Pinson man has been charged in a continuing federal investigation into alleged fraudulent applications for loans by customers of a local car dealership. 

Gerald R. Shepard, 56, a former sales manager at Serra Nissan in Birmingham, was indicted by a grand jury of five counts of conspiracy and back fraud. A federal judge unsealed the indictments earlier this week.

The charges involve what investigators call a scheme by employees of Serra Nissan-VW to defraud Nissan North America’s financing arm, financial institutions and customers. The scheme allegedly involved altering financial information submitted to lenders in order to get customers to qualify for loans, plus additional charges that were added to car sales without the customers’ knowledge, in order to inflate sales and commissions.

Another formermanager at the dealership, Abdul Islam Mughal, has already pleaded guilty to charges related to the scheme, which took place between 2010 and 2013. The four bank fraud charges against Shepard date to September and October of 2012.

The bank fraud charges carry possible fines of $1 million each, plus prison terms of 30 years each. The single conspiracy count carries a possible fine of $250,000 plus a five-year sentence.

Serra Nissan-VW issued a statement through its attorneys Thursday afternoon regarding the charges. It reads in part: “We have been notified of charges against a former employee who is accused of failing to live up to the values that are the foundation of our longtime success. When these allegations first surfaced last year in charges against another former employee, we launched our own investigation and cooperated fully with authorities. We also reviewed our procedures and implemented additional safeguards to ensure that we are operating fully in accordance with our guiding principles. News of these allegations, while disappointing, should not be viewed as a reflection of our company or as a reflection of all of our employees who have always conducted themselves with honesty and honor.”

[Edited at 2:30 p.m. Thursday to add comments from a statement by Serra Nissan-VW, and to clarify the dealership’s formal name.]