Owner of used-car business accused of issuing fraudulent 60-day tags will pay $75,000

The owner of a now defunct Wichita used car dealership has agreed to pay $75,000 in fines based on allegations that he failed to provide customers with car titles and issued fraudulent temporary registration permits.

Jesse Berlin, the former owner of Wheatstate Motorsports, which was located at 6717 W. Kellogg, has entered into a consent judgment with the Sedgwick County District Attorney’s office after an investigation into whether he violated the Kansas Consumer Protection Act (KCPA).

According to a release from the district attorney’s office, Berlin denied violating KCPA but accepted a consent judgment to settle the matter.

In May, the state director of vehicles revoked Berlin’s used vehicle dealer license and issued an order prohibiting him from holding a vehicle sales license or obtaining any type of dealer license in Kansas.

The complaint brought by the district attorney’s consumer protection division alleged that Berlin failed to deliver a car title to 17 different consumers within 60 days of purchase.

Business records obtained in the investigation indicated that Berlin also issued fraudulent 60-day temporary registration permits on “numerous vehicles sold by the dealership.”

This story was originally published September 3, 2021 at 2:04 PM.