SMOOTH CRIMINAL

Feds Say Identity Thief Posed as Bernie Madoff in High-End Car Scam

Somehow, it worked.

A Chicago man bought a $56,000 Dodge Charger Hellcat using a counterfeit driver’s license, which bore an unsuspecting identity theft victim’s name and a photograph of late Ponzi schemer Bernie Madoff, according to a criminal complaint unsealed Thursday in U.S. federal court.

Alexander Weatherspoon stole numerous identities and financed high-end automobiles, including at least two Charger Hellcats and a Porsche Panamera, prosecutors allege. In October 2018, Weatherspoon used a Tempe, Arizona, man’s identity—and the license with Madoff’s mug on it—to finance an orange 2016 Hellcat from a dealership in Fairview Heights, Illinois, the complaint states. Somehow, the picture of Madoff went unnoticed and the car was delivered to Atlanta, where Weatherspoon had by then moved. But Weatherspoon was already on law enforcement’s radar for other suspicious transactions, and cops searched his iCloud account for clues.

Weatherspoon told the FBI that he had in fact bought the vehicle “from a skinny guy with curls (name unknown) off the street for $25,000,” according to the complaint. He is now facing charges of mail fraud, aggravated identity theft, and making false statements. It was unclear if he had an attorney.

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Justin RohrlichReporter

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