Mississippi man arrested at Milwaukee airport, accused in check fraud conspiracy
Prosecutors said he had more than 150 checks totaling more than $240,000 inside a backpack. Demarte Winters, a 25-year-old Mississippi man, was arrested at Milwaukee Mitchell International Airport on March 15 and charged with two dozen felonies related to a fraud conspiracy. Prosecutors allege that Winters used stolen checks to fraudulently take over $90,000 from a victim and had over 150 checks worth over $240,000 hidden in a backpack. A sheriff's deputy spotted Winters on surveillance video and found him in the airport's car rental lobby with a backpack under his leg. Deputies also found 155 checks with different names on them, worth a combined amount of $243,167.40. The investigation found 38 of these checks had been stolen from U.S. Postal Service mailboxes and used for fraudulent transactions.
Published : 2 months ago by FOX6 News Digital Team in Travel General
A Mississippi man arrested at Milwaukee Mitchell International Airport on March 15 is now charged with two dozen felonies, accused in what authorities described as a fraud conspiracy.
Prosecutors said 25-year-old Demarte Winters used stolen checks to fraudulently take more than $90,000 from a victim – and had more than 150 checks totaling more than $240,000 inside a backpack.
According to a criminal complaint, a Transportation Security Administration employee reported a man trying to use a fake ID at a checkpoint. A sheriff's deputy spotted the suspect, since identified as Winters, on surveillance video and found him in the airport's car rental lobby with a backpack under his leg.
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When asked about the ID, the complaint states Winters said he gave it to someone else who had left the airport, provided a fake name and denied the backpack was his. He was then taken to an airport substation for further questioning, during which he contradicted his original story – telling investigators the fake ID used at the TSA checkpoint was in his pocket. He then identified himself as Winters.
Deputies found 155 checks with different people's names on them – worth a combined amount of $243,167.40 – inside the backpack, per the complaint. An investigation found 38 of those checks had been stolen from U.S. Postal Service mailboxes and used for fraudulent transactions. Of those, 13 checks were used to take $91,760.55 from a victim's account. Two more checks were verified as fraud totaling more than $30,000, but that money was not obtained.
Court records show Winters made his initial appearance in Milwaukee County Court on Friday, March 29. His cash bond was set at $50,000.
Topics: Crime, Fraud, Corruption