A $15,000 bond was set Wednesday for a man who allegedly forged payroll checks that other people cashed.
Pine Bluff District Judge John Kearney set the bond after ruling prosecutors had probable cause to charge Rocky Fletcher, 52, with forgery.
According to a probable cause affidavit from Detective Mike Sweeney, the case began April 24 when Mitch Wessels reported that his business had cashed about 25 payroll checks from White Hall Health and Rehab that were being returned by the bank. The checks totaled $18.446.07 and Wessels provided video of each transaction.
Sweeney said police were able to identify several of the suspects who cashed the checks from the video and personal information on the checks. When those suspects were interviewed, they told police they had gotten the checks from Fletcher. Each of them said Fletcher would print a check, then follow them to the store, where they cashed it, with Fletcher getting half of the money for his payment. They also allegedly said Fletcher told them he would give them $100 for each person they brought to him to cash checks.
On May 4, Fletcher turned himself in and according to the affidavit, took Sweeney and Detective Larry Gailey to an apartment at Piney Woods Apartments where they picked up a laptop computer Fletcher had left with a resident. Fletcher then took the detectives to his residence where they located a color scanner/printer combination and to a pawn shop where Fletcher said he had pawned the laptop computer that was used in printing the checks. At attempt to locate the paper checks inside a truck Fletcher said was parked at one of his residences was unsuccessful.
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Sweeney said in the affidavit that when they returned to the detective office, Fletcher gave him the password and showed him where several files were located.
“During this time, I located several copies of checks from several different businesses including copies of checks from White Hall Nursing and Rehab,” Sweeney said in the affidavit.
Fletcher said he would hire his own attorney.