Man pleads not guilty in $400,000 car scam
One of two Chicago men with an apparent taste for machines from the golden age of American autos pleaded not guilty Thursday to attempted theft and forgery charges.
David Farr, 39, and Torrez Moore, 49, are accused of trying to buy nearly $400,000 worth of cars from Volo Classic Cars with checks drawn on a nonexistent economic stimulus program.
Lake County Assistant State's Attorney Bolling Haxall said the pair went to the dealer of collector automobiles on Route 120 on May 28 and picked out five cars they said they wanted to buy.
Haxall said the two selected a red 1969 Corvette convertible priced at $150,993, a purple 1965 Chevelle convertible for $70,628, a blue 1967 Chevelle convertible for $63,991, a red 1963 Oldsmobile Delta 88 convertible for $31,748 and a purple 1969 Plymouth Road Runner for $26,428.
On June 6, Haxall said, Farr and Moore returned to the dealership and presented the owners with four money orders totaling $398,792 drawn on what the men called their U.S. Treasury Trust Fund accounts.
After a bank refused to honor the money orders, officials from Volo Classic Cars called the FBI and U.S. Treasury investigators who confirmed the money orders were fake and the accounts were fictional.
Representatives of the dealership called Farr and Moore and told them they could pick up the cars June 12, and the two were arrested by Lake County sheriff's deputies and state's attorney's office investigators when they arrived.
Haxall said the men told police that U.S. Treasury Trust Fund accounts are established for every American citizen when they are born and are secured by gold in an amount equal to the citizen's Social Security number.
Farr told Associate Judge Theodore Potkonjak he wanted to act as his own attorney in the case Thursday, but Potkonjak denied that request and appointed the county's public defender's office to represent him.
A not guilty plea was entered and Potkonjak scheduled Farr's trial for Aug. 7 and ordered him to appear in court Aug. 4.
Moore also told Potkonjak he wanted to represent himself, and Potkonjak rescheduled his arraignment for July 16.
Haxall said each man faces up to seven years in prison if convicted.