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Complete Story
11/21/2025
Fraudsters deposited over $11 million worth of stolen checks, feds say
nj.com
Federal prosecutors have charged 12 people in a scheme that involved cashing $11 million worth of stolen checks, many of which were pandemic relief payments to businesses.
Charged with a single count of conspiracy to commit bank fraud are: Wayne Bessant, 44, and John Gerard Ebert, 42, of Hamilton; Britany Brown, 39, and Patricia Kearse, 46, of Philadelphia; Joseph Graves-Carmichael, 43, of Trenton, Andrew Hooper, 37, of New Brunswick, Thomas Lee, 55, of Beverly, Clarence Semmon, 41, of and Dwayne Reddon, 39, of Trenton; Ryan Small, 32, of Ewing, Shabazz Rouzard, 33, of Ewing, and Raymond Wade, 42, of Morrisville, Pennsylvania.
Ten of the defendants appeared in Newark federal court last week, the U.S. Attorney’s Office District of New Jersey said in a statement on Wednesday. Another was already in custody and one remains at large.
Federal prosecutors allege that the group conspired to deposit the stolen checks at banks in New Jersey and Pennsylvania from March 2023 to May 2025.
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