St. Louis Man Sentenced to More Than 12 Years in Prison for Role in Check Fraud Scheme

A southern Illinois district judge sentenced a St. Louis man to 145 months in federal prison for his involvement in a vehicle sale scheme using fake cashier’s checks and targeting victims in Madison, Jasper, Bond and Fayette counties.

Valentino Colic, 34, pleaded guilty in September to one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud, two counts of wire fraud, two counts of interstate transportation of property taken by fraud and six counts of aggravated identity theft. Following imprisonment, he will serve three years of supervised release.

The 11-count indictment also named co-conspirators Alen Saric, 36, Almir Palic, 25, and Emad Hasanbegovic, 34, all of St. Louis. Saric pleaded guilty in January to one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud, one count of interstate transportation of property taken by fraud and one count of aggravated identity theft. His sentencing hearing is scheduled for May 7.

Palic was sentenced to 51 months in February. Hasanbegovic is facing one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud and one count of identity theft. He is scheduled for a court hearing in May.

An indictment is merely a formal charge against a defendant. Under the law, a defendant is presumed to be innocent of a charge until proved guilty beyond a reasonable doubt to the satisfaction of a jury.

“Criminals are skilled at creating fake checks to look real and defraud victims, so it’s critical for the public to authenticate checks from people not personally known to them by confirming with the issuing bank or waiting until checks are accepted into their bank account before transferring property or otherwise sending funds,” said U.S. Attorney Steven D. Weinhoeft.

According to court documents, the co-conspirators participated in a scheme to defraud private vehicle sellers on Facebook marketplace and Craigslist with fake cashier’s checks from 2018 until August 2023. The checks were printed on security-enhanced check paper with the names and logos of real banks with fake routing numbers.

Once the fraudsters possessed a vehicle, they would then resell the vehicle to another individual for cash before the original victim could try to cash the check and realize it was worthless. The conspirators issued at least $1,710,999 in fake cashier’s checks.

"This investigation is a testament to the strength of collaboration across local, state, and federal law enforcement,” said FBI Springfield Special Agent in Charge Christopher Johnson. “This sentencing as well as the upcoming sentencing of co-conspirators highlights efforts the FBI and our partners are making to ensure those who attempt to exploit others for personal gain will be held accountable."

To keep the co-conspirators’ names out of the chain of title, they used the names of prior victims to buy and sell the vehicles and forged signatures to complete documents such as titles and bills of sale. When posing as the victims, they often used copies of their photo IDs they had received during the previous sales. By writing bad checks from prior victims, the conspiracy caused even more financial hardship by revictimizing the same people repeatedly.  

The fraudsters bought and resold vehicles from more than 100 victims across five states. Colic and Saric admitted to driving the vehicles over state lines to benefit the scheme.

The FBI Springfield Field Office, the Metro East Auto Theft Task Force, Missouri State Highway Patrol, Illinois State Police, Illinois Secretary of State Police, Jefferson County (Missouri) Sheriff’s Department and several local police departments contributed to the investigation. Assistant U.S. Attorney Peter T. Reed is prosecuting the case.