Former Chisholm Resident Charged With Defrauding Customers Of Classic Car Restoration Company

MINNEAPOLIS—Earlier today in federal court, a 26-year-old Michigan man, formerly of Chisholm, was charged with defrauding customers of Memory Lane Classics, a company that restored and rebuilt classic cars. Edwin Scott Verdung was specifically charged via an Information with one count of wire fraud and one count of transaction money laundering. He allegedly defrauded customers out of more than $1 million.

From April 2007 through May 2010, Verdung purportedly took money from individuals who were in the market for classic automobiles or who brought their own vehicles into the shop to be restored or rebuilt. Despite accepting the funds, however, Verdung allegedly failed to provide the vehicles or the restoration services promised. In some instances, he reportedly represented falsely that he had made progress in rebuilding or restoring a customer’s vehicle, when, in fact, he had done nothing along those lines. Verdung also allegedly required some customers to make “progress” payments, providing those customers with fraudulent photographs as evidence of the progress made in restoring the vehicle. Verdung spent the money he received on things other than restoring vehicles as he had promised.

If convicted, Verdung faces a potential maximum penalty of 20 years in federal prison on the wire fraud count and 10 years in federal prison on the transaction money laundering count. Any sentence would be determined by a federal district court judge. This case is the result of an investigation by the Internal Revenue Service-Criminal Investigation, Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension, and the Chisholm Police Department. It is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Nicole A. Engisch.

A defendant, of course, is presumed innocent until he or she pleads guilty or is proven guilty at trial.