On Oct. 13, a Mercedes-Benz G-Wagon sold by RD Whittington was recovered by a private detective. (photo courtesy of Matthew DeLisio)

At least three vehicles sold by RD Whittington, a luxury car dealer who operated a showroom in Beverly Hills, have been recovered by investigators following theft allegations. The cars were allegedly illegally sold by Whittington after he leased the vehicles from the owners.

Matthew DeLisio, a private detective who investigates financial crimes, represents the lessors and owners who accused Whittington of theft. He tracked down the three vehicles – which had been sold to clients who believed Whittington was the legal owner.

“A Ferrari 488 was surrendered in Arizona, a Brabus Mercedes ‘G-Wagon’ has been recovered. And after a multi-state investigation, a Rolls Royce Cullinan was recovered as stolen in Irvine after a local task force had to get a warrant to take the car from the garage of an individual that took dangerous steps to hide the car from law enforcement and the legal owner,” DeLisio said. “Multiple agencies in multiple states are working to assist victims to recover stolen cars and unravel the many ways RD Whittington has scammed the public and multiple states out of cars, money, sales tax and registration fees that were supposed to be for cars sold at a vehicle dealership Whittington claims was located in Beverly Hills. It appears, RD Whittington had multiple companies with similar names in multiple states.”

Whittington’s Beverly Hills dealership, Wires Only, offered luxury supercars out of a showroom at 9030 Wilshire Blvd., boasting rare vehicles with six- to seven-figure price tags. Whittington and his business were the subject of the Discovery Plus reality series “Million Dollar Wheels,” which documented his vehicle sales to celebrities including Kim Kardashian and Tom Holland. However, the dealership came under scrutiny when it was revealed Whittington had been operating without a business license, without paying business taxes, without a DMV license and without necessary permits from the city of Beverly Hills. The dealership’s conditional use permit was ultimately denied by the Planning Commission in June.

Whittington’s business has since been evicted from the location in Beverly Hills and his West Los Angeles location. The luxury cars that once glimmered through the windows of the showroom on the corner of Wilshire Boulevard and Wetherly Drive have since been removed – their whereabouts unknown.

On Dec. 11, the Wires Only website was deactivated to the public, and is now accessible only with a password.

According to DeLisio, Whittington defrauded clients and avoided accountability through a complex scheme that involved internet sales, wire transfers and temporary permits issued out of Arizona rather than California.

“The legal owners of these cars identified this as a scam early on and have been battling to have a formal investigation started at the hub of where this crime took place – Beverly Hills,” DeLisio said. “But this scam uses the most modern mechanism to spread its cancer, the internet. Even RD Whittington brags to the press that he sells cars virtually. His website advertises cars without an address. Many of the cars are not located at his showroom, many more are either already sold or were photographed and advertised, but never available for Wires Only to sell in the first place. Unfortunately, RD Whittington knew what he was doing when he set all of this up and it’s taken years for all of this to unravel.”

In an interview, the owner of the Mercedes G-Wagon said that he felt “betrayed” by Whittington, who he once considered a close friend. He first met Whittington in high school, and the two remained friends even after graduating and moving to different cities. He said Whittington always had a strong interest in cars and an entrepreneurial spirit. He recounted Whittington selling a car to the dean of the high school while the two were still students.

The owner of the Mercedes wished not to be identified over fear that falling victim to such a scam may further negatively impact his career. He described the situation as one of his life’s “darkest moments,” stating that it had a “catastrophic” impact on his finances, career and life.

The Mercedes owner said that in 2021 – after traveling from another state to visit Wires Only in Beverly Hills multiple times – he decided to purchase a luxury vehicle from Whittington.

“[The dealership] was packed full of really nice cars – famous people milling around, obviously wealthy people were trusting him with their vehicles. At that time the Mercedes-Benz G-Wagons were a really hot ticket item. I decided I would buy one from him,” he said.

The buyer purchased what he believed to be a Mercedes-Benz Brabus 700 for approximately $490,000. The car was shipped to his home on the East Coast, where he stored it in his garage and rarely drove it, saying it didn’t fit his lifestyle.

The Mercedes owner said the two had a “gentlemen’s agreement” that Whittington would help him sell the car or buy it back if he wasn’t happy with the purchase. He ultimately decided he would try and sell it, but he had trouble finding potential buyers in his home state. Whittington told the vehicle owner the car would sell easier in Los Angeles, and convinced him to have the car returned to California, where Whittington would sell it on consignment through his dealership and refund the car owner.

Whittington reassured the owner that he would take care of the car and ensure that it gets sold, he said.

Months went by, then years, without the car selling. After seeing photos and videos on social media of his car being driven by Whittington’s friends, the Brabus owner finally asked for the car back.

“He didn’t have possession of the car. He gave my car to someone else,” he said. “RD could not get my car back because he gave it to somebody that he owed money to.”

The Brabus owner said he heard rumors of Whittington’s troubled personal life – including about his September arrest in Beverly Hills for check fraud – and decided to hire DeLisio to find the Mercedes.

The vehicle was turned over by the man who had possession of it to DeLisio on Oct. 13. When the car was returned to its owner, it had gained approximately 13,500 miles and was in poor condition.

“The oil wasn’t changed, they just drove the hell out of it. They didn’t service it or take care of it,” the Brabus owner said.

Additionally, after the car was returned, it was determined that it was not the model that Whittington said it was.

“It was never a Brabus 700,” the owner said. “It was sold to me as a 700 horsepower Mercedes-Benz G-Wagon with all the kit and carbon fiber stuff on it, but really all that stuff was just a façade. It wasn’t a true Brabus build. The engine, the exhaust that would normally be tuned and built out with a Brabus – none of that was actually done to the car. But it was sold to me as such.”

He said the vehicle is now worth approximately $140,000.

“For me personally this is a catastrophe. When you lose hundreds of thousands of dollars, for somebody like me that’s a catastrophe. Unless you have tens of millions of dollars – that’s a lot of money,” he said.

He added that he hopes his story will encourage and help other victims of Whittington recover their vehicles.

“I know that I’m not the only victim here,” the car owner said. “You’ve been friends with someone for so long. You think you know someone. And if he’ll do this to me, he’ll do this to his own mother. He’ll do this to anybody.”

DeLisio emphasized that people who purchased cars from Whittington may be unknowingly driving stolen vehicles. He advised Whittington’s former customers to check their vehicle’s registration and contact the Arizona Department of Transportation or their local law enforcement agency to see if the car has been listed as stolen.

Whittington faces at least a dozen lawsuits from former clients, including former NBA Lakers point guard Spencer Dinwiddie. In August, Whittington was ordered to pay over $11 million across three separate lawsuits filed by a single plaintiff.