Sixteen Georgians have been indicted for allegedly stealing more than $10 million in Social Security, tax refund and veterans benefit checks from the mail and cashing them mainly at Walmart and Kroger stores using fake IDs.
Authorities allege that two men, Maurice Shuler, 25, of Atlanta, and Milton Minter, 31, of Riverdale, received the stolen checks, then provided them to a network of people who cashed them.
They used fake driver’s licenses to pose as the real check payees, forged payees’ signatures, and used other individuals’ Social Security numbers to cash the checks, authorities said. To avoid being detected, they traveled across the U.S. to cash thousands of checks.
“Georgia has the unfortunate distinction of being one of the worst states in the nation for stolen U.S. Treasury checks,” said acting U.S. attorney John Horn. “This crime affects thousands of victims – including senior citizens, the disabled, and veterans – who go to their mailbox looking for a needed check only to discover that it has been stolen by criminals and identity thieves.”
The 16 individuals were charged with conspiracy, theft of U.S. money, and aggravated identity theft.
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