James Woods Jr., former owner of AJM Corporation in Summersville, is set to go before U.S. Federal District Judge Frank W. Volk on Friday for a plea hearing on charges of wire fraud and aggravated identity theft.
According to court documents, Woods was indicted on three counts of wire fraud and two counts of aggravated identity theft for events that occurred between January 2015 and May 2016.
His indictment, filed in federal court on November 17, 2020, states that in 2015, Woods went to Mountaineer Automotive in Beckley on two occasions, once to purchase a Ford F-350 truck and again to purchase a Ford F-250 Super Duty truck. For both transactions, Woods stated that he was co-owner of a property investment company in Summersville and that he was acting on the company’s behalf to make these purchases. Through the scheme, he was able to obtain business credit for the purchase of the two trucks in the amounts of $43,550 and $56,974.
“In fact, James Woods Jr. had no authority to obtain credit or otherwise purchase a vehicle in the name of, or on behalf of, [the victim],” the indictment states. The victim was the sole owner of the property investment company and had no employees.
After taking possession of each truck, Woods used them as personal vehicles, according to the indictment.
Then, in 2016, Woods applied for business credit at State Equipment in Beckley, where he again acted as a representative of the victim’s company in order to obtain $10,000 in credit to lease a CASE Model 850M dozer, the indictment continues. The dozer was delivered to Woods’ business, AJM Corporation, in May 2016.
Each time credit was approved, applications were transmitted by wire.
The plea hearing is scheduled to take place at 10:30 a.m.
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