A man from St. Louis County confessed on Tuesday to defrauding at least 13 online sellers of their vehicles and other property, resulting in a loss of $229,200 for the victims. The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Missouri revealed that he accomplished this by using movie prop money.
Aaron Montgomery, a 41-year-old man from Bellefontaine Neighbors, has pleaded guilty to his crimes. He admitted to three counts of wire fraud and four counts of interstate transportation of stolen vehicles.
When Montgomery began his activities in August 2022, he confessed to investigators that he specifically targeted individuals who were selling their vehicles or other items online. He would initiate contact with the sellers, engage in price negotiations, and arrange a meeting for the transaction. To enhance the credibility of his counterfeit currency, he would often select bank locations as the meeting point. However, instead of genuine money, Montgomery would deceive the sellers by presenting them with movie prop money, cleverly concealed within a bank envelope or bag.
After Montgomery successfully deceived the sellers, he would swiftly take possession of the acquired items, such as cars, SUVs, trucks, pairs of Air Jordans, and audio equipment, before the unsuspecting sellers could discover that the cash they received was counterfeit.
Montgomery took at least five of the stolen vehicles back to Missouri from the states where the sellers resided, including Illinois, Michigan, Ohio, and Tennessee.
Montgomery is scheduled to be sentenced in court for his crimes on May 22, 2025. Both Montgomery and the courts have reached an agreement on the recommended sentence of 4 years and 3 months of imprisonment, along with full restitution payment to all victims.
The investigation into the case was conducted by Homeland Security Investigations, the U.S. Secret Service, and the Illinois State Police. The principal prosecutor handling the case is Assistant U.S. Attorney, Justin Ladendorf.