A woman was arrested on several charges after a car crash led deputies to a cache of more than five dozen fraudulent checks inside her vehicle, Paulding County authorities said.
Deputies and Georgia State Patrol troopers also found 10 fake driver’s licenses in Kelley Marie Faulkner’s car after it crashed along Laird Road last month, the Paulding sheriff’s office said.
Faulkner was taken to a hospital following the July 13 wreck, sheriff’s office spokesman Sgt. Ashley Henson said. While taking inventory of her vehicle, law enforcement officers said they discovered the fraudulent licenses and 62 fake checks.
That prompted a deeper investigation and a search of Faulkner’s home, which unveiled that she had been manufacturing the fraudulent licenses, Henson said.
“Also recovered were additional fake driver’s licenses, a passport and multiple fraudulent checks, along with a multitude of gift cards,” he said. “Located inside the residence was a small amount of suspected methamphetamine, some suspected oxycodone pills, and a firearm.”
Officers searching the home also found several pieces of lawn equipment and investigators determined the items had been purchased with the fake checks, Henson said.
“This investigation is still ongoing and more charges are expected,” he said. “Multiple local businesses and citizens have been identified as victims.”
Henson said investigators discovered fake checks from at least 12 banks, who are notifying their customers of the fraud. Anyone who believes they were a victim is asked to contact the Paulding sheriff’s office at 770-443-3015.
Faulkner was arrested on 12 counts of felony identity fraud, two counts each of third- and fourth-degree forgery, theft by receiving stolen property, possession of a firearm by a convicted felon, possession of methamphetamine, possession of oxycodone and having drugs outside of their original container.
According to Georgia Department of Corrections records, Faulkner served a year in Arrendale State Prison after being convicted of multiple drug charges. She was released in May 2015.
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