Gwinnett forgery ring busted

LAWRENCEVILLE - Two North Gwinnett residents are among those arrested by Gwinnett County police in connection with a forgery ring that resulted in losses of $420,000 over the past year or so. In all, 80 charges have been filed against 14 people.

Cpl. Brian Kelly says detectives with the Gwinnett County Police Electronic and Financial Crimes Unit began the investigation last year when they were able to link check fraud cases exhibiting a number of similarities.

Kelly said as detectives pursued leads in those cases, it became clear that a conspiracy between several as yet unidentified persons was at work.

As the cases were analyzed, two suspects, known only by the nicknames "Diamond" and "Drop," emerged as possible ring leaders. With the execution of an unrelated search warrant at a Gwinnett County residence investigators discovered evidence positively identifying and linking these two suspects to numerous acts of Identity Theft and Forgery. Having this evidence, investigators began to work backward through existing fraud cases.

Detectives say they soon discovered a number of cases linked to the evidence uncovered during the search warrant. They linked a number of cases involving fraudulent checks written in 2009 and early 2010. These fraudulent checks were written from various commercial and personnel accounts hosted by Bank of America and Wachovia. While numerous checks were cashed by different persons, the cases all contained commonalities. As their research intensified, they found that the losses totaled more than $420,000.

As the investigation progressed detectives were able to establish that these checks had been forged by a small group of people "entangled in a conspiracy to commit financial fraud," according to Kelly. Detectives found that members of this group recruited individuals to cash the fraudulent checks to insulate themselves from exposure. Scrutinizing the people cashing the fraudulent checks, detectives were able to confirm the two key members of this conspiracy.

"Researching the commonalities between the cases, detectives further established that the conspirators behind these frauds had sources inside the two banks," Cpl. Kelly continued. "Through the extensive cooperation of both financial institutions and the banks' own parallel audits and investigations, the inside sources were ferreted out."

The investigation has found that eight individuals were recruited by the conspirators to cash checks. These individuals have been identified and charged for their roles. Six persons "central to the overall conspiracy have been identified and criminally charged." Together, this group of criminals faces over 80 felony charges.

Cpl. Kell said the key suspects in the case are:

*37-year-old Tabitha Clarke of Dacula who has been charged with 19 counts of Financial Identity Fraud, 11 counts of Forgery in the 2nd Degree, 4 counts of Party to the Crime of Forgery in the 1st Degree and 3 counts of Possession of a Firearm.

*34-year-old Adlai Clarke of Dacula who has been charged with 2 counts of Financial Identity Fraud, 3 counts of Party to the Crime of Forgery in the 1st Degree and 1 count of Conspiracy to Commit Financial Identity Theft.

*24-year-old former Bank of America employee Tamika Crayton of Atlanta, charged with 10 counts of Financial Identity Fraud.

*42-year-old former Wachovia employee Stephanie Williams of Atlanta, charged with 10 counts of Financial Identity Fraud.

*29-year-old Kimberly Daley of Decatur, who is charged with Financial Identity Fraud and Conspiracy to Commit Forgery in the 1st Degree.

The identity of a sixth conspirator is known, but is being withheld at this time.

"The overall investigation has shown that the above key players were using information garnered from commercial and personnel checking accounts at Wachovia and Bank of America to create forged financial instruments," Kelly said. "These conspirators then recruited the other individuals, making the checks payable to them and sending them to various financial establishments to cash these checks."

He added that additional arrests are expected.