Thirteen people have been indicted in connection with a counterfeit check operation that allegedly enabled the group to steal almost $62,000 during a six-week period, according to the Denver district attorney’s office.
The 33-count indictment was the result of an investigation by the U.S. Postal Inspection Service, the Colorado Bureau of Investigation, the Aurora Police Department and the Denver district attorney.
According to the Denver grand jury indictment, the group manufactured and passed counterfeit and forged checks which were used to steal money from grocery and retail stores, credit unions and banks.
More than $360,000 in counterfeit checks were seized during the investigation, according to the district attorney’s office.
Members of the ring obtained checks and business account information necessary to create the counterfeit checks by stealing copies of payroll check stubs and copying legitimate checks, according to the indictment.
Targeted were the the Public Service Credit Union, Bellco Credit Union, Fitzsimmons Community Credit Union and the Aurora Catholic Credit Union.
Most of the transaction occurred in the summer of 2009.
The ring leaders, according to the indictment, were April Cotton, 47, and Derik Romero, 26, who were accused of racketeering under the Colorado Organized Crime Act. The pair were also accused of numerous other felonies including computer crime, theft, identity theft and contributing to the delinquency of a minor.
The indictment alleges that Cotton and Romero used computers, computer programs and computer peripheral equipment to create the checks.
After manufacturing the checks, the two are alleged to have distributed the checks to the other members of the ring who passed the check.
The members who passed the checks repaid Cotton and Romero with money, food and lodging, according to the indictment.
Howard Pankratz: 303-954-1939 or hpankratz@denverpost.com.
