OSAGE COUNTY  — A Florida man was charged with stealing $25,000 or more on Sept. 5 for taking money for a vehicle and failing to deliver it or respond to inquiries.

It began when an Osage County man was interested in buying a muscle car and traversed the internet looking for deals. A light blue 1967 Chevrolet Camaro caught his eye at baileymotorsale.com, allegedly a business located in Dexter, Maine.

The victim made contact via phone with a suspect who identified himself as “Mat” on Jan. 26. They finalized the sale for $25,500 after a final price negotiation.

Bailey Motors emailed the victim on Jan. 26 with an invoice from Mateo Lambert and instructions to wire the money to Miami Family Cars LLC.

According to a probable cause statement filed by Sgt. Ricky Jarvis, the victim made a wire transfer from his Central Bank account to Wells Fargo Bank on the same day.

Wells Fargo Bank’s business records disclosed the account owner to be Miami Family Cars LLC. Signature cards for this account show the 100% sole owner to be Aleksei Tarkhov of Hallandale Beach, Fla.

Jarvis noted this showed a connection between the account to which the victim wired funds and Tarkhov. According to the PC statement, Tarkhov allegedly transferred $2,500 from “Zelle to Tarkhov Aleksey,” which shows he moved it from the original bank account to his secondary account.

The vehicle was to be delivered on Feb. 4 but never arrived. After the victim tried and could not reach Tarkhov, he called the sheriff’s office on Feb. 6 to report fraud, and the investigation began.

In presenting a request for charges, Jarvis noted he did not believe the suspect would appear in court due to living in Florida. “The suspect has used numerous ways to hide his identity in this case alone,” Jarvis wrote. “I believe he would do the same to escape getting placed into custody.”

Sheriff Mike Bonham is pleased with the hard work in this long investigation. “This has ended with a positive result, which shows we will go to whatever lengths necessary to file charges against those who try to prey upon our citizens in Osage County,” he added.

Judge Sonya Brandt issued an arrest warrant with a $26,000 cash-only bond.