GA Man Sentenced For Providence-Based Check-Cashing Scam

PROVIDENCE, RI — Rhode Islanders experiencing homelessness were taken advantage of in a cash-checking scheme by a Georgia man, U.S. Attorney Zachary Cunha's Office said. Michael Williams, 26, was sentenced to 41 months in federal prison for conspiracy to commit bank fraud.

According to the Department of Justice, Cunha ran the scheme from October 2018 to February 2021, recruiting people in the Providence area to cash hundreds of thousands of dollars' worth of counterfeit business checks in Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Maine and Connecticut, in exchange for cash payments. Many of the people were arrested at banks while trying to cash the fake checks.

When questioned by police, many of the people involved in the scam told police the same story: they were approached by one or more men in the Providence area and told they would be paid to cash the fraudulent checks. Williams was one of the men who approached them.

If the person agreed, Williams and the others involved would print a fraudulent check made out to them, usually for $2,000 or more, then drove them to the bank to cash it. Those involved were paid about $100 per check cashed.

According to Cunha's Office, Williams was arrested Feb. 5, 2021 after driving a man to a Providence bank to cash a check and threatening to hurt him if he did not bring him the money. Inside the bank, the man pointed to Williams and another person waiting in a vehicle outside. Providence police arrived and arrested Williams, seizing $12,000 in cash.

While Williams lived in Atlanta, Georgia, he had a residence in Providence he used while in Rhode Island. During a search, police found equipment to print counterfeit checks, including a computer with a program to design and print them, a printer, blank check stock, an envelope with stolen checks and about $5,000 in cash.

Police determined that Williams and the others involved in the scam tried to cash more than $677,000 work of fake checks across the region, and actually received about $480,000 from banks.

Last July, Williams pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit bank fraud.

"This defendant’s actions in this case resulted in substantial losses, but equally if not more importantly, his actions managed to victimize some of society’s most vulnerable in an effort to line his pockets, recruiting them to take the risk for his benefit," Cunha said. "Today’s sentence appropriately reflects the harm this defendant’s scheme caused, both financially and to individuals."