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September 2, 2010

Counterfeit checks, thousands in cash found following traffic stop

By Dan Nienaber The Free Press

NEW ULM — Two people who were stopped for speeding near New Ulm Tuesday are now facing felony charges for allegedly running a check scam that spanned across several state lines.

A State Patrol trooper initially became suspicious after learning the man and woman in the car he stopped were from Texas, but the car they were driving had Oklahoma license plates. The car had been stopped for 68 mph in a 55 mph zone on Highway 14 near Minnesota Valley Lutheran High School.

After some questioning, the trooper also learned John Manuel Hines, 29, and Jasmine Rochelle Ellis, 21, also had about $15,000 in cash with them, said Marc Chadderdon, an investigator with the Nicollet County Sheriff’s Department. Hines had about $10,000 in cash and Ellis had about $5,000 in cash.

The car, which was a rental, was later searched. The rental company asked for it to be confiscated because it was overdue for return, Chadderdon said. During the search, officers also found about 80 counterfeit checks and receipts from dozens of Wal-Mart stores, and other stores.

Investigators suspect Hines and Ellis were using the counterfeit checks to buy computers, cameras and televisions at one Wal-Mart store, then driving to the next Wal-Mart store up the road to return the items for cash. The counterfeit checks had differing account numbers and bank names, the stores weren’t able to put out alerts for the account numbers from the counterfeit checks that had been used.

There were receipts worth more than $12,000 for just computers that had been purchased, Chadderdon said. In Minnesota alone, their were receipts from Wal-Marts in New Ulm, Willmar and Cambridge, and from stores at the Mall of America.

The traffic stop happened to take place while investigators from several counties were doing a drug sweep in and around Brown County. So several officers responded to the call quickly. The drug busts and the arrests of Hines and Ellis were not related, however.

“We had a lot of help available in a short period of time,” he said.

Bail was set at $200,000 for Hines and $100,000 for Ellis when they appeared in court Thursday. High bail was requested because it could take weeks for investigators to gather the counterfeit checks, Chadderdon said.

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