Posted on 12/03/2025 5:23:31 AM PST by jerod
Rare supercar was bought by Toronto jeweler accused of laundering millions for drug kingpin
At $11.9 million US, the agreed-upon price for the Mercedes was steep.
But the buyer — an alleged money launderer for a transnational criminal network — was accustomed to dealing in eye-watering sums.
CBC News has uncovered new details about the purchase last year of a rare Mercedes-Benz supercar, recently seized by the FBI amid its investigation into Canadian fugitive Ryan Wedding.
This spectacular seizure, thought to be the most valuable vehicle ever confiscated by U.S. federal authorities, made headlines around the world.
After all, the roofless 2002 CLK-GTR Roadster is considered a unicorn by car aficionados and was apparently coveted by Drake. Believed to be one of only six of its kind ever built, the FBI said the silver stunner was worth $13 million US — $1.1 million more than the purchase price last year — as it highlighted the seizure last week in a social media post.
According to a bill of sale obtained by CBC News, the vehicle was purchased last year by Rolan Sokolovski, a Toronto-area jeweller recently identified by U.S. authorities as one of Wedding’s two "chief money launderers."
It’s not clear whether Wedding — a one-time Olympic snowboarder accused of leading a murderous cocaine-smuggling empire — ordered the purchase. But the vehicle appears to fit into what the U.S. Treasury Department recently described as a “complex web” of global assets used to launder Wedding’s vast sums of drug money.
The purchase agreement dated Aug. 8, 2024, features Sokolovski's signature and names his company Diamond Tsar as the buyer. Treasury officials allege Sokolovski acted as a bookkeeper for Wedding’s $1-billion US criminal enterprise, using Diamond Tsar as a front to launder its funds.
In that role, the 37-year-old Sokolovski allegedly handled hundreds of millions dollars' worth of cryptocurrency for Wedding, one of the FBI’s most-wanted fugitives, and procured jewelry and vehicles for him.
Wedding, 44, is believed to be hiding in Mexico, with the U.S. offering a reward of up to $15 million for information leading to his capture.
A race car built for the street
As for that Mercedes, it’s like new — it has only been driven 22 kilometres.
The bill of sale lists two exotic car dealerships, based in Missouri and Florida, as being involved in the deal. With a $2-million deposit from Sokolovski, the Mercedes was to be delivered to Curated Vintage Supercars in Miami and kept there until the remainder of the $11.9-million purchase price was “paid in full.”
Later that month on its Facebook page, Curated heralded the CLK-GTR as part of “possibly the most epic arrival in the history” of the dealership.
With a powerful 6.0-litre, V12, 612-horsepower engine and a top speed of 335 km/h, this isn’t just a sports car. It’s a race car.
In the 1990s, Mercedes was required to make a road-going equivalent to its entry in the FIA GT Championship series. The CLK-GTR was designed as a street-legal “homologation special.”
In a video posted online, Hershel Zelcer, a representative for the Miami dealership, said that Roadster — number five of the six ever made — had belonged to the royal family of Abu Dhabi. He claimed the company had sourced the car for Drake, but the deal with the Canadian hip-hop star ultimately fell through.
“There might have been some miscommunications, but Drake didn’t show up to the party,” Zelcer said.
He told CBC News that Curated handed the car over to the FBI last month.
“Rolan was a very disarming individual,” Zelcer said in a telephone interview. “We would have never suspected he had anything to do with this kind of stuff.”
Big-ticket assets seized by U.S. federal law enforcement are often auctioned off, but it’s unclear what will happen to the Mercedes. An FBI spokesperson told CBC News an affidavit laying out details of the seizure remains under seal...
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How does a middle aged jeweller accumulate that king of cash, by ripping off his customers, or dealing in blood diamonds????
I am sure Hoovie can confirm the true value...
Neither, he was being bankrolled by Wedding who was ultimately purchasing the car.
I almost bought it myself until I found out it was useless in snow.
Used to see them listed in AutoTrader.
That is, without a doubt, the ugliest car ever made by Mercedes.
“As for that Mercedes, it’s like new — it has only been driven 22 kilometres.”
Doesn’t matter. The MINUTE you drive it off the lot it loses value. Everyone knows that! *SMIRK*
Not a very smart way to launder your blood money, Dude!
Note to self: If you become a supercrook, stop after the first ten million and retire. And drive a used pickup truck.
I could never figure those guys out. When is enough enough?
A white dude on the run from the Feds in Mexico is going to stand out like a sore thumb. He'll either be caught by the Feds, the Mexican authorities, or eventually killed by some cartel.
It’d look good with mud grips.
I don’t know, those tires are kinda expensive.......
https://www.fbi.gov/news/stories/reward-raised-for-ten-most-wanted-fugitive-ryan-wedding
doesn’t say dead or alive but eventually someone will collect.
Hey, world conquest is expensive.
So are hookers.
How stupid can that guy be? He was an olympic snowboarder who could have made a real comfortable life for himself after the olympics with the right agent and lucrative endorsements.
A $13 million car? When it’s 2 years old and has 15,000 miles you get $100,000 in trade.
“Diamond Tsar. Sokolovski.
I’m not sure using a names like the above is a very smart way to ‘fly under the radar’, given the Deep State hatred of Russia.
Do they make white wall mud grips?
That’d be classy!! Maybe with some of those big rim pimp wheels !!
I got an idea for the FBI: Arrest people for crimes instead of stealing people’s stuff.
Sounds reasonable... This dude should’ve been taken down a long time ago... Frankly... He’s likely a patsy who the ‘drug cartel’ disposed of a long time ago... They’re likely busy looking for a dead person when the real criminals... The Sinaloa Cartel continue on with their criminal ways. Taking down this white dude will have no effect on the Sinaloa leaders.
$13 million with no roof?
I've got a 1998 BMW Z3 2.8L Roadster Convertible that I got for $6000 with 107K miles in 2014. Looking over the Miatas I got a deal. Its at 135K now. I'm a lucky guy. ;-)
In "GoldenEye" with Pierce Brosnan as James Bond that was his ride out in Florida. The color is Atlantic Bleu or something like that.
Actually its exactly that. Just FYI I can do tuneups and maintenance but you're not getting under there to do an oil change without a jack. Not a chance. ;-)
I go for groceries and to take the little lady out to the beach.
If it rains, top up, little drips come down sort of where the wind vents would be, if it had wind vents.
So I don't take it out in the rain but if I needed a 'Scrip from CVS for my wife I'd put up the top and be back in 10 minutes with maybe a few drips inside.
But NO ROOF for $13 million? Ridiculous. No worries - my car is always in the garage.
It was really a present for my wife's 60th Bday - she wanted a convertible and she knew how to use a stick shift.
Turned out I'd be the driver but again, no worries, she's got a 2024 Acura RDX with everything with room for anything she wants to take up or bring down and the main thing she can drive 600 miles to North Carolina to see her Mom, her family, our daughter and granddaughter and stay a couple of different months a year in comfort and with no reliability issues.
Sweet.
I just take care of me and the animals while she's gone.
Still, to be honest, when she's here the things I don't have to do is amazing. When she's gone I see something, know it needs doing but its not getting done unless I do it.
I really miss her when she's gone. ;-)
Life is good. ;-)
TYR? Just saying hello. Really this was all for you. Been a little while. Sorry - been busy. ;-)
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