Fondren's The Vault is popular among classic car aficionados as it sells vintage cars such as Ferraris, Rolls Royces, and of course, Corvettes on consignment. However, a pair of recently filed lawsuits accused the dealership and its owner, Jerry Pass of either keeping the money or the unsold vehicles instead of paying the clients.
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| Jerry Pass at The Vault. Credit: TheVaultMs.com |
Vukovich Lawsuit
Susan Vukovich sued The Vault and Jerry Pass in Rankin County Circuit Court on February 6. The complaint claims Ms. Vukovich entered into a contract with The Vault to sell several classic sports cars for her. Pass allegedly agreed to pay Ms. Vukovich at least $325,000 within sixty days after the sale of the vehicles. The contract stated what vehicles were to be sold.
12. October 25, 2024: Without Mrs. Bailey's knowledge, Dennis Collins, an out-of-state car dealer, posted a Halloween video of Bailey Property retrieving Bailey vehicles, J.D. Pass states in the video that he already got paid. These cars were supposed to have been in an auction that supposedly did not happen until April 22, 2025, the date J.D. Pass told Mrs. Bailey it happened, or March 25, 2025. One of the cars, a 1959 MGA Roadster was sold on Bring a Trailer in July 2025. In the listing it said the dealer acquired the car in 2024 which is before the auction J.D. Pass said happened in April of 2025. Mrs. Bailey didn't sign the title so the person that sold the car got a bonded title out of Texas to sell it.
Bailey asked Pass if she could stop by The VaultMS in November 2024 to get an update on the sale of the vehicles. The complaint alleges Pass did not respond but in March 2025, tried to pull a Don King move*:
17. March 31, 2025: Lori Moskowitz was in Mississippi visiting her mother. J.D. Pass came by one of these days and said he knew someone who would offer $285,000 to buy the entire group of vehicles outright. He said Mrs. Bailey's call the previous week informing him that she had congestive heart failure scared him and, if she needed the money right away, she could choose to take the offer. After consulting with her family, Dwight Bailey, Scott Bailey, and Lori and Ken Moskowitz, Mrs. Bailey chose to go through with the auction because of the potential for a better outcome.
The plaintiff inquired again and again for updates on the sale of her late husband's collection. She finally spoke to Pass in May but Pass said he had updated her two daughters. However, Bailey says he never provided an update to the women.
Pass allegedly sent a spreadsheet of cars he claimed were sold at auction in April 2025 to Bailey. Bailey finally demanded Pass return all unsold vehicles or face legal action n September 2025.
Bailey's daughter found evidence of more hijinks:
38. September 23, 2025: Lori Moskowitz discovered videos where J.D. Pass collects cars from the Bailey property and says multiple times that he has already been paid for the two Corvettes in the video.
Fed up with the delays, the plaintiff and her daughter stopped by the The Vault in October but an employee said Pass was recovering from a neck injury that required hospitalization and recovery at home. They visited The Vault again that month but another employee said Pass was seeing a neurologist.
The Bailey family demanded more information in December but received no answer.
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The lawsuit accuses the defendants of breach of contract, conversion, intentional misrepresentation and breach of fiduciary duty.
Bailey asks for damages in the amount of the full value of the vehicles, punitive damages, and attorney's fees. The complaint concludes with a final accusation against Pass:
73. Defendants took vehicles and other property from an eighty-two (82) year old widow who is n congestive heart failure and grieving the loss of her husband, sold her property, and for no ustifiable reason did not pay her what she is owed. This is beyond outrageous, and the Court should 1ward punitive damages against the Defendants.
Attorney Bobby Gill represents the plaintiff while Michael Heilman represents the defendants. The case is assigned to Hinds County Circuit Judge Adrienne Wooten.
The defendants answered the complaint with the standard denials.
Posted below: Bailey complaint
17 comments:
There have been a few discussions on the Nextdoor app about this. These discussions were initiated by alleged victims.
I just bought a 1979 AMC Spirit AMX with the 304. $34k well spent
As demonstrated here, possession is 9/10ths of the law.
The owner of an auction firm in Hattiesburg was prosecuted criminally for selling equipment in an auction and not paying the proceeds to the owner.
Are he and the clown related?
The shame is the cars are gone and the money is spent I bet.
the plight of the well to do.......
Owning 34 cars might have been your first problem…
Good ol’ Bailey Cable and Internet.
Quick search of Instagram account, and if I was a victim of his scam...I'd be livid.
He certainly seems ostentatious and flush with cash. Even if it was stolen.
Sounds like he has a lot of valuable property, employees, and maybe some financed debt... when everyone comes for their money you better have it! He would be a good farmer in the Delta! ive been to the vault it is very nice but this is not a good sign
I don't know that I could trust a car dealer that wears a bunch of jewelry.
this dude seemed like a douche on the gas monkey garage television show
Never trust a used car salesman.
In such an environment, a bank intermediary escrow account forces contractual compliance. Perhaps a competitor can offer a competive "Auto Bank" showroom, where an actual Bank holds the title and the money in escrow until closing.
Multiple counts of larceny seem warranted.
RESCUED: 2 Corvettes from a Haunted House?? (Halloween Edition)
Special shoutout to Tony at Royalty Lounge & Bistro in Port Gibson, MS for a fantastic meal!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tRWlgCGz944
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