Police Arrest Second Person in Navy Federal Fraud Case

Georgia police reported a second person was arrested last week in connection to an ongoing fraud investigation of a former Navy Federal Credit Union member services representative who allegedly attempted to cash more than $800,000 in fraudulent checks on member accounts.

Demetrius Redding, 46, was arrested on July 6 for allegedly helping former Navy Federal employee Steven Verrett with depositing four stolen checks totaling $480,142 in various accounts, according to Columbus Police Department’s Property and Financial Crimes Unit.

Redding was transported to the Muscogee County Jail and charged with four counts of forgery and four counts of attempted theft by deception.

Last month, CPD’s investigators arrested Steven Verrett, who worked at a Navy Federal branch in Columbus. He was initially charged with 15 felony charges of forgery, ID fraud, theft and computer crimes. In June, CPD said Verrett was also charged with 14 additional criminal charges of theft, forgery and ID fraud.

Verrett allegedly used member accounts as a cover to deposit counterfeit checks, then opened fraudulent vehicle loans and funneled the funds to himself and several other coconspirators.

The initial five checks, which were reported stolen from the U.S. mail, amounted to more than $800,000, according to CPD.

Navy Federal said it detected the suspicious activity and immediately reported it to CPD, which launched its investigation in February.

“With the assistance of NFCU internal investigators, our detectives identified at least eight NFCU accounts that are involved in the fraudulent activities,” CPD said.

Verrett had been working at Navy Federal since 2017, according to his LinkedIn page.

CPD said the case remains under investigation and more arrests are expected.