COLUMBUS, Ga. (WRBL) – Eight defendants have been sentenced by a federal judge for their role in a counterfeit check cashing scheme.
Fredner “Fresh” Reserve was the ringleader of a small organization of individuals who deposited counterfeit checks into various banks between August and September 2019.
Working with local law enforcement, Secret Service agents tied the fraud scheme to SWGB and Ameris branches in several South Georgia cities.
The checks were often deposited via ATM. The scheme was discovered by the vice president of Southwest Georgia Bank (SWGB), and they contacted the U.S. Secret Service on September 6, 2019, regarding fraudulent checks that were being deposited at SWGB.