John O'Quinn, a Texas lawyer, got bitten by the classic car bug just a few short years ago. Spending millions to create a collection he recently found out that all was not as it seemed. The person running the collection had scammed him out of millions by paying for cars that he didn't have, having cars that were misrepresented, taking kickbacks from certain dealers, inflating prices...taking money directly...front companies...sold cars and claimed they were stolen....you name it.
The person...the con...the crook...recently took a 25 year hit in the State Penn for his actions. This millionaire lawyer had befriended him several years ago giving him a job and trusting him completely. As any good con-man does he earned that trust. O'Quinn spent over $100 million buying 618 cars in about 3 years time.
So the con-man had the perfect job. The kind we would all like to have. Buying and driving the finest cars...traveling the country to find them...attending auctions at least throughout the country and maybe throughout the world. The perfect job. The man just couldn't resist temptation.
Even the best crook is not always the brightest light bulb in the block. They started to watch him when he cheated an FBI agent on a car deal. The light is getting dimmer. In the end the lawyer was missing 29 cars and overpaid $3 million for the ones he had. A perfect job down the drain. Lights out.
