When Michelle Renee Hughes registered his new airplane with the Federal Aviation Administration last February, he submitted all the necessary paperwork, including a signed bill of sale showing he bought the 1981 Piper Seminole from a private seller for $115,000.

Although the return address on the envelope didn’t match the address listed on the registration form, Hughes included the standard $5 registration fee and everything else seemed in order. A couple of weeks later, the FAA registry officially transferred ownership of the aircraft, a twin-engine three-seater with a range of nearly 1,000 miles, over to Hughes.