PHILADELPHIA (WPVI) — Pennsylvania’s attorney general announced the arrest of a North Philadelphia man accused of running a multi-million dollar vehicle title-washing scheme.
According to the AG’s office, 40-year-old Adam Richardson operated a business called Richardson Family Enterprises LLC, which appeared to be a legitimate vehicle title company.
Richardson worked as an authorized issuing agent with the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation, but Attorney General Dave Sunday said the company was allegedly used to launder titles for dozens of stolen vehicles.
“There was a quarter of a million dollar Ferrari, multiple six-figure Mercedes-Benz, high-end BMWs, and Cadillacs,” Sunday said.
Investigators allege the scheme involved car thieves bringing stolen vehicles to Richardson Family Enterprises, where Richardson would submit fraudulent information to PennDOT to obtain bogus vehicle titles. With those titles, the vehicles could then be resold.
“From there, the stolen vehicle, with its clean title, was resold either to unsuspecting buyers on Facebook marketplace, or the individuals who knew the vehicles were stolen and re-tagged,” Sunday said.
Authorities allege Richardson received a portion of the proceeds from the resale of the vehicles. By the time Pennsylvania State Police made the arrest, investigators say Richardson had title-washed $3.8 million worth of vehicles over a four-year period.
“Creating a lucrative source of income for himself and an avenue for criminals to move around in clean, what they refer to as clean vehicles,” Sunday said.
Richardson was arrested and arraigned on charges including forgery, title washing and running a corrupt organization. He faces 16 felony counts and five misdemeanors and was denied bail.
The investigation began when Pennsylvania State Police identified stolen vehicles and discovered they had been titled by Richardson. State police then partnered with PennDOT to expand the investigation, later involving the Office of the Attorney General’s Insurance Fraud Section.
Investigators said Richardson was known as the “tag guy,” allegedly charging a fee to wash titles for individuals who knew the vehicles were stolen so they could be resold for large profits.
Authorities said efforts are continuing to identify the car thieves involved and to return stolen vehicles to their rightful owners.
The case will be prosecuted by the Office of the Attorney General’s Insurance Fraud Section.
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