He fleeced couple out of $1M — then tried to fake illness to avoid arrest, feds say
What started as a $50 loan for home repairs turned into a $1 million investment scam that spanned five years for a couple living in Louisiana, according to federal prosecutors.
Now their neighbor’s son is facing federal charges.
Monty Matthews, of Baton Rouge, Louisiana, is accused of extorting the couple with promises of bogus investments accompanied by threatening text messages between 2017 and 2022. When law enforcement eventually caught up to him, prosecutors said the 52-year-old feigned medical distress and was taken to the hospital, where he reportedly assaulted two FBI agents while trying to escape.
A grand jury indicted Matthews on 15 counts of fraud, extortion, attempted escape and assault on an officer in the Eastern District of Louisiana, the U.S. Attorney’s Office said in a news release on Friday, April 15.
Matthews was ordered to remain in jail following his failed escape attempt and could not be reached for comment.
A public defender representing him did not immediately respond to McClatchy News’ request for comment on April 15.
According to an FBI agent’s affidavit filed with the criminal charges, Matthews’ mother lived across the street from a couple identified in court documents only as LW and CW. The first time Matthews reportedly interacted with them in 2016 was to ask for money for home repairs.
Over the next year, the agent said, he continued to ask for petty cash while promising to repay them.
Then, in August 2017, Matthews approached the couple with an investment opportunity — one in which he promised they would recoup all of the money they loaned him and then some, the affidavit states.
Matthews pinned the investment on a made-up rich person who he called Richard Craft, telling LW and CW all they had to do was provide him with cash and he would be their “investment group team leader,” the FBI agent said.
According to the government, the couple never knew the name of Craft’s supposed investment agency, nor did they know what their money was being invested in.
‘Cash drops’
The FBI agent said Matthews would text LW with instructions to meet him with cash — often “on almost a daily basis” and sometimes multiple times in one day. The deposits ranged from $200 to $2,000, according to the affidavit.
From 2017 to 2022, the FBI agent said, LW made 4,515 “cash drops” with Matthews totaling $1.06 million.
Matthews kept the scheme going by sending threatening text messages, often posing as a federal agent or another authority figure while saying he was going to have them arrested if they didn’t give him more money, court documents state.
He also told LW to take certain routes to drop off the money, the FBI agent said, and he seemed to know when she veered off route.
“You will need to get your affairs in order,” Matthews reportedly said in a September 2021 text message while pretending to be a federal agent. “This is my final time communicating via electronic. When I get the signed paperwork. I am personally gonna bang on your home door 4 times. Count to 8 then will knock it down. You have gotten under my skin and I don’t like scratching. You sleep well tonight. For tomorrow may be the day we come face to face.”
He reportedly signed the message, “Peace out crook.”
Federal prosecutors filed a criminal complaint against Matthews on March 23 and he was arrested two days later, court documents show. He had multiple bench warrants at the time connected to seven previous arrests, a judge said.
Escape attempt
After his arrest, the judge said Matthews “exaggerated and/or fabricated medical complications including acting like he could no longer remain seated and falling to the floor.” He was then taken to the hospital for testing, which the judge said “revealed nothing to support defendant’s claims of medical distress.”
Matthews was then told he would be discharged and taken back to jail.
“Defendant waited until one of his restraints were free to then physically assault at least one FBI agent, forcibly pushing that agent out of the way so he could flee,” the judge said. “In the efforts to get the defendant back in restraints, approximately 7 different individuals assisted, including two federal law enforcement agents.”
Both of those agents were reportedly injured in the process.
The judge ordered Matthews remain in jail after his arrest, citing his failed escape attempt, the evidence against him and lack of stable employment.
A grand jury subsequently returned an indictment on Wednesday, April 13, court documents show.
This story was originally published April 15, 2022 at 7:10 PM with the headline "He fleeced couple out of $1M — then tried to fake illness to avoid arrest, feds say."
