NORTH FORT MYERS, Fla. — The Lee County Sheriff’s Office arrested four men who have been conducting fraudulent bank transactions across Florida.
Michael Potter (27), Vincent Mori (28), Eugenio Brito (25), and Gerald Duran (48) were able to get away with doing this in Orlando and Miami, but once they reached Fort Myers they finally were caught.
These men aren’t even from Florida.
On October 6, Lee County deputies pulled over four suspicious men near the RaceTrac gas station and Regions Bank off of Hancock Bridge Parkway and North Cleaveland Avenue in North Fort Myers.
They searched their vehicle and found nearly $30,000 in cash, along with several credit cards, fake IDs and cashier’s checks that weren’t theirs.
Marijuana and meth were also found in the vehicle.
Deputies said the men tried hiding the contraband by stuffing it in the fabric of the car ceiling and in their shoes.
While conducting their investigation, they discovered that one of the men had cashed a cashier’s check inside the Regions Bank that was worth $4,500, using a stolen identity.
Deputies said earlier that day they also cashed $19,000 worth of cashier’s checks using another stranger’s identity at a Regions Bank in Charlotte County.
Investigators are still trying to determine how long these men have been doing this and how much money they’ve made.
William Barnwell is a criminal defense attorney at Barnwell Law PLLC in Fort Myers. He said if the suspects are found guilty they could face anywhere from five to 30 years in prison. It all depends on how many victims there are and how much money was stolen.
“Scammers are getting much more sophisticated with technology,” said Barnwell. “They do not need to steal your physical copy, they can apply for fictitious credit, they can print fictitious checks and sometimes they can even evade the banks.”
“People need to be aware of their passwords they need to be aware even of what they put in their garbage,” said Barnwell. “Fraudsters are targeting high senior population areas as we know Florida is a senior destination.”