Mercedes-AMG One Order Turned Out to Be $5.4 Million Scam, Suit Claims
Los Angeles resident Michael Mente was interested in buying a Mercedes-AMG One hypercar, according to a report by The Denver Post, and was told by a Colorado attorney that an exotic car dealership in France could get him one for $5.4 million. Unfortunately for Mente, the car he was sold never existed, and the French dealer was actually an alleged con artist from Texas. He has now filed a federal lawsuit to get his money back.
With only 275 Mercedes-AMG One cars being built, the Formula One technology-laden hypercar is not easy to find. In 2021, Mente was put in touch with a Colorado attorney named Scott Oliver who, according to the complaint, claimed to represent an exotic car dealer from France named Jean-Pierre M.R. Clement.
Oliver told Mente that the French dealer purchased a Mercedes-AMG One build slot from Mercedes-Benz, according to the Post, at which point Mente sent the money and waited to be contacted about selecting the custom features for his car — but he never heard anything about the car. However, in June 2022, Mente did hear from the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, the Post says, who informed him that he had been allegedly defrauded by a Texas con man named Traveon Rogers.
On February 18, Mente filed a lawsuit in the U.S. District Court of Colorado against Oliver and Rogers, accusting them of orchestrating a multi-million-dollar heist. Mente is seeking the return of his $5.4 million, plus further damages. For his part, Oliver told the Post that he was just the transactional attorney on the deal and didn't know anything about the scheme; the paper also states there is no record of legal disciplinary action filed against Oliver by the state's supreme court.
Rogers is another story. On his LinkedIn profile, Rogers claims he has sold two companies for $1-plus billion and six others for multiple millions. He claims to be on the board of the meal delivery company Blue Apron, an investor in Snapchat, and even says he was an athlete in the NFL. We can't speak to the validity of any of these claims... but Rogers does appear to have accrued quite a record for various schemes.
In 2023, according to the Post, Rogers faced another lawsuit over another Mercedes-AMG One transaction, in which he allegedly used part of the $3.1 million from that scheme to buy himself a house. In 2019, Houston prosecutors charged him with felony theft; court documents say he forged contracts and banking documents and impersonated representatives from Aston Martin and a Cleveland car dealership, and is currently serving out a seven-year prison sentence for it. He has also faced charges over the years such as insurance fraud, perjury and assault, the Post reports.
Hopefully, Mente will one day be able to get the Mercedes-AMG One he paid for four years ago. The one he ordered from France certainly doesn't appear to be coming any time soon.
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