• 10
  • February
    2012

He's become famous as the New York man arrested for murder after his face was shown on the JumboTron at an NBA basketball. Someone at the Charlotte Bobcats game reportedly spotted the man on the giant TV and called police.

Now the 25-year-old faces new allegations: He's accused by law enforcement officials of being part of a check fraud ring that included 37 people and a haul of more than $150,000.

Fourteen others were also arraigned in the new case brought by the Manhattan district attorney's office yesterday.

He was already in custody, following his arrest on accusations that he repeatedly shot a man in the head in a dispute over money at a New York City diner.

The suspect has pleaded not guilty in that case, saying he shot the other man in self-defense because hip surgery left him unable to run from the confrontation.

Prosecutors claim the man, along with other alleged leaders of the check fraud, paid people to allow their bank checking accounts to be used in the scheme.

Prosecutors say counterfeit checks were then deposited in the accounts, resulting in the transfer of funds from legitimate accounts into the accounts controlled by members of the ring.

Then the ring members used ATM cards or debit cards from the accounts they controlled to buy money orders, according to the district attorney's office.

"Over 250 United States Postal money orders were purchased by members of this criminal organization," an assistant district attorney told a judge yesterday morning.

A 19-year-old college student arrested in the case said he doesn't know the other people being charged and is "perplexed" by the accusations.

These kinds of charges can be complicated and convoluted. In these cases, defendants are best served by withholding information from police and prosecutors until they've had a chance to discuss their legal options with an attorney experienced in this area of the law.

The same obviously holds true regarding homicide charges.

Source: Associated Press: "NYC murder suspect faces check fraud charges," Feb. 9, 2012