Kentucky dealership accused of selling cars it never paid for as victims wait for titles

Added: 2026-05-28

[00:00:00]People spent thousands of dollars on a used car, but they found out they can't get their titles.

[00:00:05]>> WDRB Investigates reporter Valerie Chin has been digging into this case for us.

[00:00:09]She tracked down the business owner after Richardson [music] Auto Mart in Bardstown shut down.

[00:00:20]>> [music] >> Do you feel like you've been scammed?

[00:00:22]>> Absolutely.

[00:00:24]In September, Terry Webb bought this car for $3,600 to help [music] her sister-in-law take the Webb's mother-in-law to doctor's appointments. It's been a nightmare. It really has.

[00:00:34]>> Were there any warning signs when you first bought the car?

[00:00:36]>> No. Oh, no. My husband went and looked at it first and he drove it. The issue getting the car's title and finding the business owners. I called the dealership over and over and over. When I stopped by there many times and every time it was a different reason why she couldn't give me a title. This is all that's left of the auto dealership. The cars are all gone and they have their office building that says, "We buy cars, buy here, pay here." Every single day it seems like there's a new victim. Detective Keegan Kirkpatrick with the Nelson County Sheriff's Office Um right now I have about 16 victims that I know about.

[00:01:10]Um single mothers, elderly victims. Says investigating this case has become a full-time job. This list from the Sheriff's Office shows the prices people paid for their cars. You know, this Richardson Auto Mart, they've gone to multiple auctions in different states, Kentucky, Indiana.

[00:01:27]They've acquired all these vehicles and the issue is they've brought them back here to Bardstown. They've sold these vehicles to unsuspecting victims.

[00:01:35]Now they're wondering why they can't get their titles. Well, that's because Richardson's never paid these places.

[00:01:40]They either wrote cold checks or they just blatantly didn't pay. Now there's an Indiana arrest warrant for owner George Richardson. Records show he's been arrested five times in Kentucky dating back to 2004 for various charges including assault, domestic violence, theft, and traffic violations. This current warrant out of Boone County, Indiana, is for two counts of theft.

[00:02:03]>> Right now, I know five or six different auction houses that they've done this to. Indianapolis has been a big one. I know of 10 vehicles from there that they acquired, brought here, sold, and never paid for. Court records say the Indianapolis Car Exchange sold cars to Richardson, and he wrote nearly $48,000 worth of checks, but all bounced. What kind of charges could those owners face?

[00:02:26]>> Um it's it's I would say theft by deception. Um those are probably the charges we're looking at.

[00:02:34]So, we called Richardson.

[00:02:37]Hello. Hi, I'm looking for George.

[00:02:40]Yeah, this him. Hi George, this is Valerie Chin with WDRB News. How are you?

[00:02:45]Pretty good.

[00:02:46]I wanted to ask you about Richardson Auto Mart.

[00:02:49]Do you still own the business?

[00:02:51]Yeah. Some people said they haven't gotten their titles yet. We're working on it. We're trying to get them.

[00:02:58]We just shut down until we just tired messing with it. But have you paid for the cars? Some of these auction houses say the checks that you wrote aren't good.

[00:03:07]No, there ain't no check out there. You talking about my wife, and she explained to you. Okay, I'm just trying to understand what's going on. I know a lot of people are waiting on their titles, and they just want to be able to drive their cars. Yes, ma'am. We trying to work out very private. We've been in business five years, never had no problem. Never. We called Richardson's wife and left a message, but she hasn't called back. At the tone, please record your message. So, what needs to happen for them to be able to get the titles?

[00:03:35]That's a good question. Um obviously, we're going to have to go through the court process.

[00:03:41]And we're going to hold the Richardsons accountable. But as far as their titles, I I honestly don't know how these victims are going to end up getting their titles. WDRB Investigates has talked to victims who were pulled over and got their car taken away, and single parents who relied on the transportation only to be dropped by their insurance company because they didn't have a title. Webb says she tracked [music] down the auction house that was still waiting to be paid by Richardson. The only way to get all this cleared up and to get a title, I had to give Pulaski County Auto Auction another $2,000. Kirkpatrick says the investigation is still ongoing.

[00:04:17]What do you want to say to them? You're not the only victim.

[00:04:20]I just want them to know how bad they hurt people when they act like that.

[00:04:25]>> Valerie Chin, [music] WDRB News.