A Philadelphia man is accused of obtaining false titles for stolen luxury cars, including a Ferrari and several Mercedes, BMWs and Cadillacs.
Adam Richardson, 40, an authorized tag agent for PennDOT, was charged Monday with several felonies for allegedly submitting fraudulent paperwork for 65 stolen vehicles. The vehicles received Pennsylvania titles and then were resold by people who used Richardson for the so-called “title washing” scheme, prosecutors said.
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The stolen cars connected to Richardson’s alleged scheme were valued at $3.8 million, prosecutors said. Nearly 40 have been recovered.
Richardson’s operation was based in Philadelphia and Bucks County, prosecutors said. Some cars allegedly were sold on Facebook Marketplace to people who did not realize they were stolen. Others were sold to people who knew the cars had been stolen and retagged, prosecutors said.
Richardson allegedly was known as someone who could provide fraudulent titles and was paid for his services.
Investigators began looking into Richardson after Pennsylvania State Police identified several stolen vehicles and realized they all had been titled by Richardson, prosecutors said. Police and PennDOT then launched a broader investigation in collaboration with the Attorney General’s insurance fraud team.
The investigation is ongoing, and Attorney General Dave Sunday declined to say whether any of the vehicles are connected to other crimes. But he said title washing often is linked to drug trafficking and violent crime.
“This was a very sophisticated operation which contributed to a tremendous amount of damage to the community,” Sunday said. “Title-washing provides a veil that allows criminals to operate in the shadows.”
Richardson was arrested Friday and denied bail. He has been charged with corruption, forgery, deceptive business practices and related offenses.