CBS 19 - The Eye of East Texas News - Bogus Check Ring on the Move

Bogus Check Ring on the Move

By Wilton Johnson

    Rocky Nichols doesn't want to be blamed for cashing a bad check, so he verifies each one.

"That works for the most part, but every now and then an employee gets in a hurry, gets lazy, and one will slip through. We've been lucky that doesn't happen here," Nichols explained Tuesday.

    But Henderson Police want every check casher in East Texas to be aware of the ring that hit them, and appears to be on the move.

    After hitting Henderson businesses for $80,000, the group took a New Summerfield business for $80,000 more. Now checks are popping up in Longview.

"The check that pharmacy cashed had the name of Marcus Flores, which pops up in every place we've had so far," Lt. Sweeney noted.

    Besides names used over and over again, Sweeney says he's matched these men with these vehicles with these license plates. If unsure, just ask for proper ID. When confronted the counterfeiters simply left one store.

"Lack of ID, whether it's a thumbprint, driver's license. If you take a Mexican ID card, I wouldn't take that as valid because they're easy enough counterfeited anyway," Sweeney explained.

    Nichols doesn't plan to be lax on his ID'ing now that he knows these crooks are on the move. After all, electronic verification is an easy way to get out of saying no.

"I've had people I know that's refused their checks and just had to tell them no and risk them being mad at me."