A luxury SUV worth more than $131,000 disappeared somewhere between a Las Vegas dealership and its destination in Florida, and the story of how it happened reads less like a logistics mishap and more like a well-executed con.
BMW of Henderson, a Nevada dealership, filed a federal lawsuit on March 26 against two transport companies after a brand-new 2024 Cadillac Escalade-V never arrived at AutoNation Cadillac West Palm Beach in Florida. The vehicle had been arranged for shipment in January through an automotive logistics program designed to match dealerships with transportation brokers and carriers. What followed was a chain of events that ended with a six-figure SUV sitting in a North Las Vegas residential driveway before vanishing entirely.
The lawsuit names McCollister’s Global Services and Orlandi’s Towing of Las Vegas as defendants. BMW of Henderson is seeking damages on multiple grounds, including negligence, civil conspiracy, intentional misrepresentation, and violation of the federal Carmack Amendment, a law that holds carriers responsible for cargo lost or damaged during interstate transport. In other words, the dealership is not letting this one go quietly.
The case shines a spotlight on real vulnerabilities in the automotive shipping industry, where multi-party logistics chains, third-party brokers, and text-based communications can create gaps that bad actors are apparently willing to exploit. And when the cargo in question is a fully loaded performance SUV, those gaps can get expensive fast.
How the Cadillac Disappeared
According to the complaint, McCollister’s Global Services accepted the shipping job but quickly ran into trouble finding a carrier. The next day, a driver from Orlandi’s Towing showed up at the BMW dealership with a bill of lading and drove the Escalade-V off the lot.
Rather than heading toward Florida, the vehicle was delivered to a home in North Las Vegas. The lawsuit states that Orlandi’s followed instructions it received from someone who claimed to represent McCollister’s, communicating entirely through text message. The towing company was told a second carrier would handle the Florida leg of the trip. That second carrier never materialized, and neither did the Cadillac.
“After the residential drop, the vehicle was removed, concealed and/or converted by unknown persons and has not been delivered to the intended dealership in Florida,” the complaint reads.
The Towing Company Says It Followed Every Protocol
Misdeivis Orlandi, the owner of Orlandi’s Towing, told Automotive News that from his perspective, nothing seemed off. He received a call to pick up the vehicle, was given the VIN, model number, and drop-off directions, and showed up at BMW of Henderson with a bill of lading in hand.
“I went to the dealership and provided the bill of lading and took pictures like I always do at the pick-up,” Orlandi said. When he arrived at the residential drop-off location, a man was already waiting. “There was nothing suspicious. He showed me the same bill of lading on his phone.”
Orlandi said he photographed the car again at drop-off and was paid for the job. By all appearances, he followed standard operating procedure. The problem is that whoever sent him those text message instructions may not have been who they claimed to be.
What This Incident Reveals About Auto Transport Security
This case is a textbook example of what security professionals call “social engineering,” where someone impersonates a legitimate party to manipulate others into doing their dirty work. If the allegations hold up, someone posed as a McCollister’s representative over text, redirected a tow truck driver to a residential address, and walked away with a $131,877 SUV without ever setting foot inside a dealership.
The automotive transport industry relies heavily on trust between brokers, carriers, and dealers, and that trust is increasingly being communicated through informal channels like text messages and phone calls. That creates obvious openings. A fraudster who knows enough industry jargon to sound plausible, and who can produce a convincing bill of lading on a phone screen, can apparently clear a significant logistical hurdle without raising immediate suspicion.
For dealerships, this case is a reminder that verification protocols matter at every stage of a shipment, not just at pickup. A phone call to a logistics company’s verified number, rather than relying on text threads with unconfirmed contacts, could be the difference between a clean delivery and a lawsuit.
Where Things Stand Now
McCollister’s Global Services has not publicly responded to the allegations. Attempts to reach the company’s marketing department went unanswered, with the company’s switchboard only able to provide an email address that did not reply to messages. The case is currently working its way through federal court in Las Vegas.
The 2024 Cadillac Escalade-V is no ordinary missing vehicle. It is the high-performance variant of Cadillac’s flagship SUV, powered by a supercharged 6.2-liter V8 engine producing 682 horsepower. Losing one is not a rounding error. For BMW of Henderson, recovering damages through the courts may ultimately be the only way to close the books on a shipment that went very wrong, very fast.