Woman charged with bilking Gwinnett banks out $238K
Gwinnett County police have arrested a woman they believe used counterfeit checks to “deposit” — and then withdraw — nearly $240,000 from two local banks.
Derona Carol Brown, 62, of Flowery Branch was arrested last week and charged with two counts of first-degree forgery and three counts apiece of theft by deception and false identification documents. Authorities had sought her since at least the end of September, when they issued surveillance photos they said showed her making the fraudulent transactions at banks in Norcross and Peachtree Corners.
Police believe Brown used an alias deposit hefty checks — one for $140,000 and another for $98,000 — into an account, then withdrew the money once the checks cleared.
“Most of the money was already withdrawn from the account before the bank shut the account down,” Gwinnett County police spokeswoman Cpl. Michele Pihera said.
After her arrest Friday, Brown posted $23,600 bond and was released.
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Tyler Estep hosts the AJC Win Column, Atlanta's new weekly destination for all things sports. He also shepherds the Sports Daily and Braves Report newsletters to your inbox.
