Arkansas man charged with cashing $11K in forged checks
July 18, 2018
Charlea Estes-Jones
An Arkansas man was taken into police custody and charged after allegedly cashing over $11,000 in forged checks at various bank branches in Barry County. Thomas Frederick Sharp, 48, of Fayetteville, Ark., claimed he was paid by another person to cash the checks.
Sharp is charged with four counts of felony forgery between incidents in Golden, Seligman, Shell Knob and Cassville on July 11.
According to affidavits of probable cause, officers were dispatched to Freedom Bank in Cassville on Wednesday, July 11, when Sharp was at the bank, attempting to cash a fraudulent check. The check, issued by MariCorp US, was written for $4,990.18 to CenturyLink. Sharp took the check to the bank, attempting to cash it, despite having no ties to either MariCorp US or CenturyLink.
The Barry County Sheriff’s Office investigated and determined that Sharp had cashed other checks at banks in Seligman, Shell Knob and Golden totalling $11,570.54.
When officers made contact with Sharp, he told them he had been approached by another man, known only as Shawn, while he was in Fayetteville who propositioned him to cash the checks. Sharp told investigators that Shawn had told him his aunt owned a business that employed illegal aliens who had to be paid in cash. He offered him money to cash the checks.
Sharp said he was paid $600 for cashing the checks.
Sharp is currently being held in the Barry County Jail in lieu of a $65,000 cash-only bond between the one count of forgery through the Cassville Police Department and three counts of forgery through the Barry County Sheriff’s Department.
Charlea Estes-Jones
An Arkansas man was taken into police custody and charged after allegedly cashing over $11,000 in forged checks at various bank branches in Barry County. Thomas Frederick Sharp, 48, of Fayetteville, Ark., claimed he was paid by another person to cash the checks.
Sharp is charged with four counts of felony forgery between incidents in Golden, Seligman, Shell Knob and Cassville on July 11.
According to affidavits of probable cause, officers were dispatched to Freedom Bank in Cassville on Wednesday, July 11, when Sharp was at the bank, attempting to cash a fraudulent check. The check, issued by MariCorp US, was written for $4,990.18 to CenturyLink. Sharp took the check to the bank, attempting to cash it, despite having no ties to either MariCorp US or CenturyLink.
The Barry County Sheriff’s Office investigated and determined that Sharp had cashed other checks at banks in Seligman, Shell Knob and Golden totalling $11,570.54.
When officers made contact with Sharp, he told them he had been approached by another man, known only as Shawn, while he was in Fayetteville who propositioned him to cash the checks. Sharp told investigators that Shawn had told him his aunt owned a business that employed illegal aliens who had to be paid in cash. He offered him money to cash the checks.
Sharp said he was paid $600 for cashing the checks.
Sharp is currently being held in the Barry County Jail in lieu of a $65,000 cash-only bond between the one count of forgery through the Cassville Police Department and three counts of forgery through the Barry County Sheriff’s Department.