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KENTUCKY: Police Say Suspect Passed Bogus Checks To Pay Child Support
By James Zambroski
(LOUISVILLE, December 8th, 2004) -- Louisville police say they've broken up a counterfeit check ring that operated in at least six Kentucky counties and may have passed bad paper in neighboring states. WAVE 3's James Zambroski reports. An indictment handed up in Jefferson Circuit Court Tuesday charges 26 people with 67 counts of criminal possession of a forged instrument. The crime is punishable by a one to five years in prison. The United States Secret Service is also looking into the scam, police said. The ringleader, police say, is already in a state prison. Andrea Lamont Carson was indicted on similar charges almost two months ago. State probation and parole officers took Carson back to prison on a parole violation shortly after that indictment was released. Louisville Metro Police Detective Gary Alcorn said Carson was the check writer. Thirty-three other people -- some already in custody and not part of Tuesday's indictment -- were recruited by Carson to pass the bad paper. "He would ask them if they would like to make some quick money," Alcorn told WAVE 3 Investigator James Zambroski. "He would take their identification card, whether it would be an I.D. card or driver's license, back to his residence and make computer-generated checks." The group conspired to cash the bogus checks at selected liquor stores, grocery marts and mom and pop businesses. Carson scouted the locations in advance, looking for businesses with lax check security, police said. "A lot of them fingerprint," Alcorn said. "And there's others that just take the check, do not fingerprint, no photographs. There's just no way of identifying who cashed that check." A break in the case came in October 2003 when detectives caught two of the suspects in the act of passing bogus checks. "Almost all them agreed to talk to me," Alcorn said. "Almost all said they knew it was just a matter of time until they got caught." Even though the suspects agreed to cooperate, it was difficult getting Carson in custody. That's because he used an alias when he recruited the check passers. But eventually, police were able to put together a photo line up. Six of the suspects in custody picked out Carson as the check writer. With the help of his probation officer, police were able to bring him in. Investigators said Carson used the money to help pay his child support. Alcorn said creating counterfeit checks is easy, using a home computer and printer, along with software and blank checks easily obtained through any office supply business. "The check paper you can buy at any office supply store," he said. "All you need is right there at any office supply store; you bring them home and download on your computer and you can print checks all day." Ken Singer, owner of Expressway Liquors and the founder of Fraud Alert Network, says there are ways to stop criminals from passing bad checks. Singer says one way of doing that is "if you can familiarize yourself with the blank check stock that these kits come with," he said. "There's only about four or five out there on the market." Know the stock in trade for counterfeiters and train employees to be cautious. "And always tell them: if you're not 100 percent sure, don't cash the check," he said. "There's no law that says we have to cash a check." Online Reporter: James Zambroski Online Producer: Michael Dever |
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