Two con men were charged with conspiracy to commit theft by swindle. The target, prosecutors said, was a South St. Paul, Minn., tire dealer.
The two men, charged June 4, tried to swindle the tire dealer out of money and inventory using a “black money” scam, prosecutors say.
The con men contacted the intended victim May 27, saying they wanted to buy 100 tires, according to the charges. The next day, the two met the tire dealer at the shop to look around, and told him they wanted to buy his entire inventory of 270 tires.
According to the charges, the men then showed the dealer a stack of black paper shaped like U.S. currency. They pulled out a few pieces of black paper and exposed them to a series of liquids. This made it appear as if the black pieces of paper had become $20 bills.
This scam, although relatively uncommon, has been seen before although not by South St. Paul law enforcement. In the scam, the con artists convince the target that they have a large sum of cash that has been coated in a black covering to avoid detection. A few bills might be real or made to look real by slight of hand; the rest are simply black paper. The con artists then ask for money to buy an expensive chemical to wash the black off the bills.
Scammers may discourage victims from going to police by making them think they’re caught up in a counterfeiting scheme.
In this case, the two con men also wanted to get the shop owner’s tires while pretending to wait for the chemicals to develop the fake money, according to the charges.
After their meeting, the shop owner went to South St. Paul police. Officers set up surveillance at the shop prior to the next meeting with the con men.
The men returned to the shop on June 2. Before the meeting ended, officers announced their presence and arrested the two men, according to reports. The two admitted to running the scam to get the owner’s tires and money, the charges said. According to reports, the black money was construction paper, after all.
