Police say Rexburg man ordered fake checks on Amazon, scammed people out of $4,000 in property
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REXBURG — A man was arrested on seven felony charges after police say he conducted fraudulent transactions with fake checks.
Evan Patrick Jones, 21, was booked into the Madison County Jail after being arrested Friday, Dec. 1.
Rexburg police began investigating Jones after a person walked into the police department Nov. 17.
“He told us he had sold a laptop to Jones, who used an alias of James Stinnger, and Jones paid him with a check,” Rexburg Police Capt. Randy Lewis tells EastIdahoNews.com. “The individual tried to cash the check and was notified by the bank a few days later that it was fictitious.”
Investigators discovered Jones had allegedly conducted at least four other transactions using the fake checks.
“He would meet the people at night at McDonald’s, Maverik, Subway or other places like that,” Lewis says. “He bought an ATV, drone, laptop and other personal things.”
Lewis says Jones ordered the fraudulent checks, which appeared to be from Idaho Central Credit Union, from Amazon.com and used fictitious routing and account numbers.
After serving a search warrant Friday, police recovered around $4,000 in property they believe was obtained with the checks.
Jones, who attends Brigham Young University-Idaho but is currently off-track, was charged with grand theft, computer crimes and forgery. The Madison County Prosecutor is reviewing the case and Jones could face additional charges.
He is scheduled to appear in court Monday afternoon.