A Philadelphia man has been charged for his alleged role in a vehicle title-washing scheme involving dozens of stolen luxury vehicles valued at nearly $4 million, according to state police and prosecutors.
Pennsylvania Attorney General Dave Sunday said an investigation revealed that Adam K. Richardson— an authorized tag agent for the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation (PennDOT) — submitted to that state agency falsified paperwork connected to 65 stolen vehicles. The vehicles were given Pennsylvania titles, then sold by the persons who used Richardson for the illegal title washing service, according to prosecutors.
A PennDOT authorized tag agent is a private business contracted by PennDOT to provide vehicle title transfers, temporary tags, license renewals and other services as an alternative to official PennDOT DMV locations.
Nearly all of the involved vehicles were high-end brands, including a quarter-of-a-million-dollar Ferrari, several Mercedes and BMWs, and Cadillacs.
In all, investigators identified 65 vehicles — valued at more than $3.8 million — that were sold. They said nearly 40 vehicles have been recovered.
“The scope and harm from this criminal enterprise went beyond cutting corners to obtain paperwork — many of these vehicles were sold to individuals who knew they were stolen,” Sunday said. “That is particularly concerning as washed vehicles provide criminals the means to move around and perpetrate crimes without being detected by law enforcement.”
He said the investigation is ongoing and more charges could be filed in connection with the stolen vehicles.
The investigation began when the Pennsylvania State Police identified stolen vehicles and discovered they had been titled by Richardson. From there, state police partnered with the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation to launch a broader investigation, and, later, the Office of Attorney General’s Insurance Fraud Section.
The investigators said they learned that Richardson was known as the “tag guy” where individuals took vehicles they knew were stolen for title washing to be resold at huge profits. Richardson was paid a fee to wash the titles.
Criminal charges are merely allegations and Richardson is presumed innocent until and unless proven guilty.
Topics Fraud
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