Monday, June 28, 2010

Forgery investigation leads to federal guilty plea

Last Thursday, a man from Clinton, Mo., pleaded guilty in federal court to defrauding businesses from three states of more than $242,000, including one in Kansas City that sustained more than $20,000 in losses. You can read the full story in the press release from the U.S. Attorney's Office.

The release says that 34-year-old Jason M. Hendricks "engaged in a prolific scheme to obtain merchandise and gift cards with non-sufficient funds checks, counterfeit checks and checks written on closed accounts. Victims of the fraud scheme included at least 23 stores in Missouri, Kansas and Nebraska that sustained $242,841 in total losses. Some of the merchandise was kept by Hendricks' friends and co-conspirators. Other merchandise was sold online."

Nebraska Furniture Mart was one of the biggest victims of the scheme. Another was Home Depot here in Kansas City. One of our forgery detectives worked with authorities in Harrisonville, Mo., to track down and return $20,000 in stolen merchandise that Hendricks was storing there. This was a major theft operation that resulted in a quarter-million-dollar loss for the businesses involved, and it took a lot of inter-agency cooperation to stop it. Hendricks faces up to 10 years in federal prison, a fine up to $250,000 and an order of restitution. 

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