(MOBILE, Ala.) - Police arrested four men in connection with a counterfeit check-cashing ring involving homeless individuals.
Mobile Police Captain Clay Godwin said investigators are still searching for two other suspects, but they are believed to have fled the city. Godwin said, in just two days, two banks in Mobile and three in Daphne have lost more than $20,000 combined from the scam.
Godwin said the department is now seeking the help of the Secret Service to make more arrests in the multi-state operation.
Police arrested Darion Jordan, Phillip Dean, Albert James and Kenneth Glover. Dean, James and Glover are believed to be homeless, and each were charged with possession of forged instrument 2nd Degree.
Godwin said Darion Jordan, a Georgia man, was a key member of the operation, and his arrest could lead to more. He said Jordan had driven a rental car from Georgia, and rented a hotel in Downtown Mobile as a base of operations.
Investigators said the ring-leaders of the operation create fake checks in the hotel room, and pay homeless people to cash them at local banks.
"They'll have some bogus construction company, usually, on the check, and they're sending in 'workers' that look like they are cashing payroll checks," Godwin said.
Godwin said that is how these mostly out-of-state operations stay nearly untraceable.
"It's very difficult to apprehend them because, like I said, they use the homeless people," Godwin said. "If you catch them, they can't give you any information, and the suspects that are involved in it are usually not on the scene. They're in the general vicinity in a rental car with Go-Phones that can't be traced."
