A man was sentenced to five years in prison for leading a conspiracy to fraudulently register vehicles in Missouri. U.S. District Judge Matthew T. Schelp also ordered Gary Wilds, 48, to pay $335,218 in restitution, including $319,778 to the state of Missouri.
According to court documents, Wilds bribed employees at motor vehicle license offices so they would falsely claim that vehicles had passed required emissions and safety inspections and that owners had paid property taxes or had insurance. He also arranged for employees to submit forged documents stating that vehicle owners were eligible for sales tax exemptions. This reduced the amount of tax owed from thousands of dollars per vehicle to as little as $11.
Wilds recruited Michelle Boyer and Megan Leone into the scheme. When Leone became manager at one office, she instructed her subordinate Ashlyn Graeff—who started working there in 2018—to process fraudulent registrations on Wilds’ behalf. Wilds paid up to $100 per transaction. Initially, Graeff processed one or two fraudulent registrations weekly but this increased over time to as many as ten each day.
Some customers of Wilds’ business, Pinnacle Concierge, knew their vehicles could not pass emissions tests or that they were otherwise barred from registering vehicles due to outstanding child support orders or restrictions from other agencies. These customers knowingly sought out fraudulent registrations. Other customers who did not know about the fraud suffered financial losses when only part of their registration fees were submitted by Wilds; their registrations were later revoked and they now face additional taxes and penalties before they can legally register their vehicles again.
In one example cited in court records, on September 13, 2022, Wilds and Graeff registered a 2022 Dodge Ram using falsified paperwork claiming the truck weighed 24,000 pounds and was leased to an interstate carrier with the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration. The customer paid $1,350 believing it covered all fees and taxes; however, only $14.50 was sent by Wilds to the Missouri Department of Revenue.
Gary Wilds pleaded guilty in June to charges including conspiracy to commit mail and wire fraud (one count), wire fraud (22 counts), aggravated identity theft (four counts), and making false statements (six counts). Ashlyn Graeff pleaded guilty to three counts of making a false statement; Megan Leone pleaded guilty to conspiracy and making a false statement; Michelle Boyer pleaded guilty to conspiracy.
Boyer received five years’ probation on September 18 along with an order for restitution totaling $206,847. Graeff was sentenced July 17, 2024, receiving four years’ probation and ordered restitution of $84,554. Leone’s sentencing is set for October 8.
The case was investigated by both the Missouri Department of Revenue and the FBI. Assistant U.S. Attorney Tracy Berry is prosecuting the matter.
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