KANSAS CITY —Jackson County Prosecutor Melesa Johnson announced charges against a Kansas City man for allegedly selling vehicles to unsuspecting buyers and then stealing them back.
Mamadou Diallo, 25, faces six counts of 1st Degree Tampering with a Motor Vehicle and eight counts of Forgery. Each count carries a maximum sentence of seven years in prison.
According to court records, Kansas City police received eight stolen vehicle reports between May and June last year, all following a similar pattern. In each case, the victim purchased a vehicle through Facebook Marketplace from the same seller who used an alias online and was later identified as the defendant.
After completing each sale in person, the defendant provided what appeared to victims to be a legitimate title and bill of sale. But shortly after the transactions, each buyer reported their newly purchased vehicle stolen.
In an interview with detectives, Diallo denied buying and selling vehicles on Facebook Marketplace. The victims’ combined losses totaled more than $24,000.
A Jackson County judge set the defendant’s bond at $30,000 cash only.