Dealer Advice Needed -- Fraud

[strickerj]

My understanding from the OP is that he, as the financing agent, applied for a lien on the title and paid for the car on behalf of his customer, and the dealer skipped before delivering it to said customer. By “paid cash”, does that mean a check (that you can stop payment on), or you actually handed the dealer a suitcase of Benjamins? If the dealer would only accept the latter, that’s a huge red flag, IMHO. At the very least, I wouldn’t pay in full until the car is actually delivered.