Forgery Across State Lines
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On Wednesday, August 19, 2020, Atoka Assistant Police Chief Mark Rains arrived at First Bank about a possible fraudulent/forged check.
Assistant Chief Rains made contact with three individuals occupying a vehicle. The back passenger, Rekia Lynette Johnson, 31, of Garland, Texas, admitted that she was the person attempting to cash the check. Johnson was asked to wait while the officer spoke to the bank teller.
The teller advised Rains that the check Johnson was attempting to cash had been reported stolen by the account holder, Mike Pierce.
The check was the “temporary type” in the amount of $5,000.00. Johnson had endorsed the check and it was signed “Mike Pierce.”
The first attempt to contact Pierce was unsuccessful.
Johnson informed the officer she received the check from a female in Garland, Texas who had written the check as payment for cattle.
She stated the reason they had driven the two and a half hours to Atoka from Garland to cash the check was due to it being a temporary check; believing First Bank was the only bank that would cash the check.
Rains advised Johnson and the other occupants of the vehicle to leave. The check was kept as potential evidence.
The next day, August 20, 2020, Assistant Chief Rains spoke to Pierce about the checks. Pierce advised he had discovered fraudulent activity on his bank checking account.
Two checks had been cashed, both in the amount of $5,000.00, with the memo section indicating “cattle” or “farm equipment.”
Pierce stated he had not used any “starter” or “temporary” checks in the past 25 years. He believed the checks were stolen from storage by an ex-employee.
Pierce had not given anyone permission to write, sign, or present as payment any of the checks, nor had he signed to authorize the transaction.
