The Tennessee Highway Patrol and Shelby County Sheriff’s Office arrested 99 people charged with felony identity theft and forgery as of Tuesday.
The suspects were allegedly involved in a fraudulent check cashing conspiracy.
The investigation started last December regarding checks that were cashed at various Walmart locations in the Memphis area and linked to a State of Tennessee account. The state did not lose any funds because the Federal Reserve stopped payment on the checks cashed. Investigators in the Identity Crimes Unit worked with Walmart security personnel and the Shelby County District
Attorney’s Office over the last several months as they investigated the case.
Each suspect allegedly cashed a check for about $300 and is charged with forgery and identity theft (both Class E felonies). The total amount cashed is $41,208. The investigation is ongoing and more suspects could be identified.
The arrests came out of a joint operation by the Tennessee Highway Patrol and Shelby County Sheriff’s Office. Troopers and deputies began serving the warrants at 6 a.m. Tuesday, transporting many of the suspects to a mobile command unit at Shelby County Jail East. A list of the suspects in custody will be released separately.
Department of Safety and Homeland Security Commissioner Bill Gibbons and Shelby County Sheriff Bill Oldham made the arrest announcement at a press conference Tuesday afternoon. They were joined by Shelby County district attorney general Amy Weirich, whose office is prosecuting the cases.
“This was a very time consuming and labor intensive investigation. When you have 99 co-conspirators allegedly involved in a crime of this type, it takes a great deal of expertise and resources. We created the Identity Crimes Unit exactly for investigating these types of crimes across Tennessee,” Commissioner Gibbons said.
Sheriff Oldham said, “The Shelby County Sheriff’s Office is proud to partner with the state and to help round up the wanted suspects. We will do anything we can do to aid in the apprehension of these individuals.”
Weirich said, “This was a widespread criminal effort to cheat Tennessee taxpayers and retailers. Thanks to the good work by state investigators and local law enforcement, these 99 defendants have been put out of commission and now will be brought to justice in court.”
