Band of Bandits Busted for Cashing Fake Business Checks at CUs & Banks

Seven men drove more than 1,000 miles from North Carolina to Green Bay, Wis., and used local homeless people to cash counterfeit business checks at credit unions and banks, according to a Dec. 18 indictment filed in U.S. District Court in Green Bay.

Federal prosecutors also alleged this band of bandits had been traveling across the nation to carry out the same fraudulent scheme, but the indictment did not cite other financial institutions in other states that may have been victimized.

Charged with financial institution fraud and aggravated identity theft were Che L. Simons, 28,  Sequoia D. Southerland, 21,  Mackel H. W. Gaither, 28, Henry L. Wilder, 32, Fred P. Allen, 24, Keith D. Davidson, 26, and Deshawn D. Mobley, 27, who are all North Carolina residents, federal prosecutors said.

The band of bandits targeted the $1.4 billion Capital Credit Union in Green Bay, the $1.6 billion Fox Communities Credit Union and the $263 million Prospera Credit Union, both in Appleton. According to the criminal complaint, they also targeted Nicolet National Bank and Associated Bank, both in Green Bay, Stephenson National Bank and Trust in Marinette, Johnson Bank in Racine and U.S. Bank in Minneapolis.

Once they arrived at their target location, some of the suspects would locate the mailboxes belonging to the financial institutions and steal the mail, which frequently contained business checks, prosecutors said. After lifting the business checks, they sent photographs of them to Deshawn Mobley who had a laptop, a printer and specialized paper to reproduce counterfeit versions of the business checks.

At the same time, other suspects approached persons at homeless shelters, bus stations, Salvation Army rehab centers and even at state probation and parole offices. The suspects recruited persons with valid driver’s licenses or state ID cards, offering to pay them up to $200 to cash the fake checks at the credit unions and banks.

The band of bandits called their recruits “bussers.”

The suspects sent an image of the bussers’ ID cards to Mobley who placed the name of a busser on a phony check as the payee. Mobley sent the fake checks back to the suspects who then drove the bussers to the credit unions and banks.

According to court documents, the suspects instructed bussers on how to cash the check, provided them with a made-up story to relay to the teller if questioned, and trained them to grab the check and leave if the teller tried to verify the check.

While a busser was attempting to cash a counterfeit check, one of the suspects watched the transaction as it was happening while another suspect looked out for cops.

The bussers obtained or attempted to obtain more than $120,000 that was distributed among the band of bandits, federal prosecutors said.