Bridgeport Man Indicted In Check Fraud Scheme: U.S. Attorney

BRIDGEPORT, CT — A federal grand jury has indicted a 40-year-old Bridgeport man and two other Connecticut residents in connection with running a scheme to steal checks from mailboxes and cash them through recruited intermediaries, U.S. Attorney David X. Sullivan announced last week.

The indictment, returned Aug. 20, charges Michelle Freeman, 37, of Waterbury; Leshanda Long, 43, of Hamden; and Omar Eaddy, of Bridgeport, with conspiracy to commit bank fraud, an offense that carries a maximum prison sentence of 30 years, according to the U.S. attorney’s office in Connecticut. Ketty Larco-Ward, Inspector in Charge of the U.S. Postal Inspection Service, Boston Division, also announced the indictments.

Prosecutors said the group stole checks from mailboxes, altered them to make them payable to so-called “check runners,” and then had those individuals cash the checks at banks or check-cashing businesses. The cash was turned over to the alleged conspirators. Freeman is accused of leading the operation and counterfeiting the checks, which authorities said were largely drawn from small business accounts.

Long and Eaddy allegedly recruited the check runners.

The three were arrested on criminal complaints in May and are free on $100,000 bond each, officials said. They are scheduled to be arraigned Tuesday.

Sullivan emphasized that the charges are only allegations and that the defendants are presumed innocent unless proven guilty.

The case is being investigated by the U.S. Postal Inspection Service’s Connecticut Organized Financial Fraud Task Force, with assistance from several local police departments. Assistant U.S. Attorney Katherine Boyles is prosecuting the case.