CHESTERFIELD COUNTY, Va. (WRIC) — Suspected scammer Justin Godsey pled not guilty to 11 counts against him in federal court Thursday, including fraud and money laundering.

The Henrico County resident was arrested earlier this month, but released from custody on certain conditions, including prohibition from any “sale of goods or services via on-line marketing or e-commerce.” However, another online business of Godsey’s appeared to still be operational Thursday.

Records from Virginia’s State Corporation Commission (SCC) list Godsey as the sole member or manager of TomiKing LLC. The business is registered to a Midlothian address, where its brick-and-mortar location still stands. The diecast model car retailer also has social media and online operations, which even enabled 8News to complete a purchase Thursday.

“They are just the little, tiny matchbox cars you would see at Target and Walmart, but more specialty ones — so, certain Lamborghinis and Ferraris, and older model cars,” Malik Carlton said. “Some of them range from $45 to $100, if not more. It just depends on which one you’re looking for, how unique it was, where it came from, and things of that nature.”

In January, Carlton invested $3,000 into TomiKing. He worked nearby Godsey and, though aware of previous complaints against his businesses, thought things had changed.

“I understood the Sneak Foot issues people had,” Carlton said. “I hadn’t been involved in that portion, so I just wanted to give him the benefit of the doubt, and once I saw the news clipping from 2021, I believe it was, my jaw dropped. I was just like, ‘What have I done now? What did I do without even knowing?'”

The clip in question was from when 8News first approached Godsey in 2021, following hundreds of complaints with the Better Business Bureau Serving Central Virginia (BBB) regarding his other ventures, Godsey Supply and Sneak Foot. Complaints ranged from customers who had purchased products from the online retailers and not received their order at all or received a knockoff product, to those who invested in Godsey’s businesses with the promise of a return on their investment, only to lose their money.

“I noticed something wasn’t right toward the end of April, beginning of May,” Carlton said. “That was scary for me.”

Text messages that appear to be from Godsey to Carlton showed the former telling the latter about when return payments would be made, but then pushing the date back. When Carlton asked where his money was, Godsey wrote back, “Do me a favor and never invest again because you aren’t the kinda partner I’d like to work with in the future!”

But Carlton said he had made minor investments before, and never had an experience like this.

“It’s always been timely. You know the date that it’s going to mature, you know the date that you’re going to get the money back. They have to submit financials proving how much they made or do not make off the investment,” he said. “I though it would be safer.”

However, court records show that Godsey is now facing eviction — or an unlawful detainer — in Chesterfield County for the Midlothian-based TomiKing. In the weeks since the news broke of Godsey’s arrest, though, Carlton said that he has not seen Godsey at the TomiKing storefront.

“Even the cars that he typically drives are being driven by somebody else,” Carlton said. “Cars have moved, things have left, but all the property is still there.”

8News did not reach back out to Godsey for this story. After 8News’ initial reporting in 2021, he told us not to contact him, and also said that he had filed a restraining order against us.

“My next step is really to go up to Henrico and do small claims court,” Carlton said. “Something wasn’t done diligence-wise as far as Sneak Foot to then last this long, to be able to start a whole other company, get all that licensing, SCC, all that stuff, and still be doing this kind of business behind-the-scenes.”

Carlton added that he was concerned about how many others may have invested in Godsey’s ventures and potentially lost their money in the process.

Henrico County Commonwealth’s Attorney Shannon Taylor told 8News on Thursday that her office was “unaware of any criminal investigation involving this individual, but we are aware of pending matters in General District Court using civil process.” 8News also reached out to the Chesterfield County Commonwealth’s Attorney’s Office regarding the eviction proceeding there, but did not receive a response.

Godsey’s federal trial was set for Sept. 18. He requested a jury trial. Attorneys in the courtroom Thursday said that because the case is so complex — with the alleged offenses taking place over a considerable amount of time and hundreds of transactions to sort through — they needed more time to prepare, beyond the speedy trial window, which would end in July.