Bergen County Man Wrote $500K In Checks He Couldn't Cover: Prosecutor

BERGEN COUNTY, NJ — A Glen Rock man has been charged with money laundering after a three-week spree of writing himself checks without funds to cover them, said prosecutors.

Evangelos Drosos, 50, was arrested Wednesday and charged with second-degree money laundering and second-degree theft by deception, said the Bergen County Prosecutor's Office.

Prosecutors said that last August, the Bergen County Prosecutor’s Office Financial Crimes Unit received information regarding a financial scheme.

Investigators determined that Droso issued himself checks from accounts under his control from different institutions. Then he deposited the checks into various banks while knowing the accounts didn't have the funds to cover them.

When he received temporary credit, he rapidly withdrew the funds, totalling $496,788, prosecutors said.

This "check-kiting" pattern took place over three weeks, prosecutors said.

Drosos was arrested Wednesday in Paramus.

He was taken to the Bergen County Jail to await a first appearance in Superior Court in Hackensack, prosecutors said.