Four people have admitted to fraudulently registering motor vehicles in Missouri, losing the state more than $80,000 in tax revenue.
Three are former employees of vehicle and driver's license offices, and the other is Gary Wilds, owner of Pinnacle Concierge, according to a press release from the U.S. Attorney's Office.
Wilds' business assisted customers in registering their vehicles with the Missouri Department of Revenue.
Wilds bribed contract license office employees Ashlynn Graeff, Megan Leone and Michelle Boyer to falsely represent to the state that customers' vehicles had passed emissions tests and safety inspections, prosecutors said.
He also bribed them into submitting forged documents claiming that vehicle owners were eligible for sales tax exemptions, reducing tax assessments from thousands of dollars per vehicle to as little as $11.
Some of Wilds' customers were aware of his practices, but those who were unaware suffered financial losses because Wilds sent a fraction of the actual required taxes to the Department of Revenue, leaving the owners liable for the remainder.
Wilds began paying Leone to fraudulently register vehicles and exempt them from taxes in 2017. When Leone was promoted to manager, she passed the job to Graeff, her subordinate. Graeff submitted as many as 10 fraudulent registrations per day, and Wilds paid her $100 per transaction, the release said.
Boyer began assisting Wilds with the registrations as early as 2015.
Graeff pleaded guilty in March to three counts of making a false statement. She was sentenced to four years' probation and ordered to pay $84,554 in restitution.
Wilds pleaded guilty Wednesday in U.S. District Court in St. Louis to one count of conspiracy to commit mail and wire fraud, 22 counts of wire fraud, four counts of aggravated identity theft and six counts of making a false statement. His sentencing is scheduled for Sept. 2.
Leone pleaded guilty in December to one count of conspiracy to commit mail and wire fraud and one count of making a false statement. Boyer pleaded guilty last month to one count of conspiracy to commit mail and wire fraud. They are scheduled to be sentenced July 24 and Aug. 21, respectively.
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