Forgeries, counterfeiting on increase in city, county
Published 12:00 am Wednesday, September 2, 2009
Fraudulent checks and counterfeited financial documents of other types are on the rise in Vicksburg and Warren County, and officials are tracing printing origins to the Jackson, Pattison, Port Gibson and Fayette areas.
Forgeries
Vicksburg
Counterfeit
instruments 2008 2009
Cases 45 20
Arrests 12 15
Bad checks 2008 2009
Cases 52 25
Arrests 41 20
Warren County
Bad checks 2008 2009
Cases 7 9
Arrests 4 6
Officials said fake payroll check cases are increasing because they are being printed from home computers using check-writing software and check paper that can be purchased at office supply stores or through the Internet.
This year to date, Vicksburg police have made 20 arrests in 25 felony forgery cases. Fifteen arrests have been made in 20 counterfeit instruments cases, Lt. Bobby Stewart said.
“We’ve seen an increase in 2009 compared to 2008, and it has steadily been on the rise,” he said.
In 2008, police made 41 arrests in 52 reports of uttering a forgery and 12 arrests in 45 reports of counterfeit instruments.
Last year, Warren County sheriff’s deputies made six arrests in nine forgery cases, and as of the end of July, they have made four arrests for seven forgery cases, mainly involving bogus checks and money orders, said Sheriff Martin Pace.
Though the four arrested this year in the county were Vicksburg residents, Pace said he did not think the cases were related. In 2008, five were from Vicksburg and one from Jackson.
Police have outstanding warrants for a Jackson woman and a man from the Jackson area.
In one case, authorities said Thomasina Thompson, 23, 748 Beaver Brook Drive, is accused of cashing two $337.11 counterfeit payroll checks at Shell Jubilee gas station, 4747 U.S. 61 South, on April 16.
Thompson has been connected to Raphelle Ward, no age or address available, who is accused of cashing a payroll check of $1,213.34 at Ameristar Casino, 4116 Washington St., on Feb. 17.
Authorities said Thompson and Ward have been linked to Jason Brown, 24, 2303 Princess Pine Road, Jackson, who was arrested at Riverwalk Casino on May 8 for also cashing checks at Ameristar Casino on Feb. 17, and Michelle Rogers, 49, whose last known address is 104 Higgins Drive, McComb.
Rogers is accused of passing a $323.81 check at the gas station with Thompson.
Rogers was held without bond at the Madison County Jail on multiple forgery charges in Hinds, Madison and Rankin counties as well as Vicksburg.
“We’re still identifying individuals, and checks are still coming from companies as far away as Virginia,” said Stewart.
Police arrested a Pattison woman Aug. 25 and have linked her to another check-casher from the same area.
Mary Patterson-Alexander, 26, 1099 Copiah St., is accused of cashing fraudulent checks at the Walmart Money Center, 2150 Iowa Blvd., where she was an employee.
Police linked her to Curtis Ellis, 44, 3186 Barland Road, Pattison, who was charged Aug. 21 for passing a $1,497.23 payroll check at the money center July 15.
Stewart said Vicksburg police are investigating four more people who might be involved with Ellis and Patterson-Alexander. Their identities have not been released.
Until recently, deputies dealt with legitimate checks that were stolen by “someone who had some contact with the victim,” Pace said — usually a family member or friend. They would tear a check from the middle of a checkbook, he said. “But what we are seeing more today is the document itself is fraudulent.”
Brown and Ellis remained in the Warren County Jail, and Patterson-Alexander bonded out Aug. 25.
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Contact Tish Butts at tbutts@vicksburgpost.com