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.

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (KCTV) – A St. Louis Republican has filed a bill during the legislature’s special session that would declare the Cardinals as Missouri’s “official professional baseball team,” as legislators debate potential stadium funding that could keep the Kansas City Royals in the Show-Me State.

Senator Nick Schroer, who represents District 2 in St. Charles County, filed the bill on June 4.

“Any other professional baseball team that is presently in, or may subsequently locate in, the state of Missouri shall be rightfully known and designated as a subpar professional baseball team,” Schroer’s bill said.

The bill’s introduction comes as legislators were in Jefferson City for a special session that Governor Mike Kehoe called in hopes of passing stadium funding that could incentivize the Kansas City Royals and Kansas City Chiefs to remain in Missouri.

READ MORE: Stadium incentives plan now in Missouri House’s hands

In the early hours Thursday, the Missouri Senate passed bills, including one that would provide bonds for 50% of stadium construction up to $50 million per year.

The Missouri House of Representatives is expected to take up the stadium proposals next week.

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MARYVILLE, Mo. (KCTV) – An attempt to turn onto a county road from a rural Missouri highway led to a rear-end collision that left both drivers seriously injured.

The Missouri State Highway Patrol indicates that around 11 a.m. on Friday, June 6, emergency crews were called to the area of Missouri Highway 148 and County Road 220, about 3 miles north of Maryville, with reports of a 2-vehicle crash.

When first responders arrived, they said they found a 49-year-old Pickering man had been stopped on the highway in a 2020 Chevrolet Silverado as he attempted to turn west onto County Road 220. However, he was hit from behind by a 32-year-old Maryville man in a 2021 Ford van.

State Troopers indicated that the impact of the crash caused both vehicles to veer off the roadway and crash into a nearby ditch.

Emergency crews said both drivers were taken to Mosaic Life Care in Maryville with serious but non-life-threatening injuries. No one involved had been wearing a seatbelt at the time of the crash.

Investigators noted that both vehicles were extensively damaged as a result. No further information has been released.

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