American Express went to court Monday to freeze nearly $4 million in assets and property of Forest Lake Ford Inc. and its owner, John D. Berken.

American Express Travel Related Services Co. alleged in a federal lawsuit filed Friday and made public Monday that Berken and the company used the dealership's charge card last year to obtain $4,093,100 in cash and has failed to repay more than $3.8 million of it.

Berken declined to comment Monday and referred a reporter to his attorney, Eric Rucker of the Minneapolis firm Briggs and Morgan. Rucker could not be reached.

According to the suit, between Oct. 4 and Nov. 26 Berken and the company processed 48 credit charges against the dealership's merchant account; 44 were for $90,000 a pop. American Express said using the merchant account to obtain cash was a "flagrant violation" of the cardholder agreement.

Berken and the company promised in late December to provide documentation for the credit charges and to repay the money by year's end, the suit says, but they have not done either.

There are at least two individuals named John D. Berken who live in Minnesota. The lawsuit lists an address that formerly belonged to John D. Berken Jr., 39, of Forest Lake.

Public records show that in the early 1990s, he was convicted of several theft charges in Ramsey, Dakota, and Hennepin counties; he was convicted in Washington County in 1993 of felony check forgery.

A Dun and Bradstreet report from December says Forest Lake Ford has 45 employees and annual sales of $13.6 million.

Dan Browning • 612-673-4493