Paul Walker’s estate is furious with one of Walker’s pals, suing him for allegedly hiding or stealing several of the actor’s cars after he was killed in a November 2013 auto accident.
The suit, filed June 11, alleges that Richard Taylor had associates take and hide several cars from a storage facility in Valencia, California, less than a day following the “Fast & Furious” star’s death. Among the allegedly stolen cars was a 2011 Porsche GT3 RS.
“[Taylor] has intentionally and fraudulently concealed the existence and location of such vehicles from Plaintiff in order to wrongfully convert such vehicles for his own use or benefit,” reads the suit, posted by The Hollywood Reporter. Paul Walker III, the actor’s father and executor of his estate, asserts that he asked for the cars’ whereabouts and Taylor didn’t answer so that he could “extort money and other concessions.”
At least seven cars are unaccounted for, including a 2008 BMW M3, a 2006 Crown Victoria and a 2004 GMC truck, according to the suit. At the time of his death, Walker owned more than 30 cars, the suit says. When Taylor, who helped Walker manage his car collection, did provide the Walker estate with a list of the actor’s vehicles, he purposely omitted several of them, the suit alleges.
Christopher Heck, the lead attorney for Walker’s estate, told The Huffington Post Wednesday that he “had a hunch” others were involved and that the investigation was ongoing. “One of the issues is a question of record-keeping,” Heck said. “Mr. Taylor and people associated with him were handling the records in a lot of cases and the records are not sufficient.”
HuffPost attempted to reach Taylor through an attorney who, according to Heck, represented him when Walker’s estate inquired about the cars earlier. HuffPost did not immediately hear back and it was not clear at press time if Taylor retained the same representation.
Walker’s estate is demanding that Taylor return the cars or pay back their value in cash. It alleges that Taylor already sold some of the cars.
Walker and Roger Rodas, a business partner, perished after Rodas crashed a Porsche Carrera GT into trees and a utility pole on Nov. 30, 2013.
Walker’s estate had already sued the estate of Rodas for the return of other cars supposedly owned by Walker.
“Furious 7,” which was in production at the time of Walker’s death, was finished using Walker’s brothers as doubles and made more than $350 million at the domestic box office.
H/T Uproxx
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