ST. CHARLES – A Sugar Grove man is being held at the Kane County jail on $350,000 bail on charges that he deceived three customers into giving him money while he worked as a car salesman in St. Charles.
At Don McCue Chevrolet on March 16, Randy M. Kath, 44, reportedly encountered a customer who wanted to buy after-market steps and bed cover from a business in Aurora for his 2011 Chevy Silverado. The customer gave Kath a check for $865 after Kath said he could buy the parts at a 15 percent to 20 percent discount, St. Charles police spokesperson Paul McCurtain said.
The customer never received the parts, McCurtain said.
Another Don McCue customer told Elgin police that she wrote Kath a $570 check to hold a car for her on April 5. She wrote him two more checks totaling $762 three days later, and he returned $332 to her, according to an Elgin police report.
Also that day, she purchased a 1994 Chrysler from the dealership and didn't learn until after all the paperwork was completed that it didn't include the $1,000 she had given Kath, according to the report.
A message seeking comment from Don McCue Chevrolet was not returned by press time.
St. Charles police were informed on May 5 of a scam involving a Paducah, Ky., resident. She contacted Al Piemonte of St. Charles on April 19 and spoke to Kath after seeing an online advertisement for a PT Cruiser, McCurtain said.
The woman decided she couldn't afford the Cruiser, so she and Kath discussed a 1999 Kia Sportage and settled on a price of $2,910, McCurtain said. She reportedly paid the amount with a moneygram believing the vehicle would be delivered to her house. She told police she received neither a title nor the vehicle.
A manager at Al Piemonte had no comment about Kath's charges.
St. Charles and Elgin police jointly worked on the case. Elgin police took Kath into custody May 10 after arrest warrants were obtained, McCurtain said. Kath, of the 200 block of Yolane Drive, Sugar Grove, was charged with three counts of felony theft, including one charge of theft by deception.
His criminal history in Kane County includes burglary, theft, resisting police and endangering the life of a child. Online records indicate he is expected in court today.
