A federal grand jury has indicted six people accused of trying to steal more than $5 million from Twin Cities banks and credit unions in a scheme that allegedly ran for nearly two years, using stolen business checks, fake identities, and unauthorized bank accounts. Prosecutors say the conspiracy involved more than $5.1 million in business checks.
The grand jury indicted Willie Roy Turner Jr., Marc Anderson, Billy Ray Cameron Jr., Devontay Colbert, Dontae Williams, and Takiya Shemwell, according to KARE 11. The six defendants face federal charges related to the alleged bank-fraud scheme, though the specific counts vary by defendant.
At the center of the alleged scheme is Shemwell, who worked for the U.S. Postal Service in Chicago and is accused of stealing checks from businesses and selling them to Turner and Cameron in exchange for payments, prosecutors say. Turner, who also went by the aliases “J.S.B.” and “Little Willie,” made his initial court appearance before U.S. Magistrate Judge Shannon G. Elkins on Friday, per the U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of Minnesota.
Fake Names and Unauthorized Accounts
The five defendants other than Shemwell allegedly worked together in the scheme. The Justice Department's announcement describes the alleged operation.
The Justice Department's announcement identifies Anderson, Cameron, Colbert, and Williams as alleged co-conspirators.
Federal Agents Traced Stolen Mail Across State Lines
Joint advisories from the U.S. Postal Inspection Service and the Federal Bureau of Investigation warn that organized criminal networks increasingly steal commercial checks from the U.S. Mail, alter the payees, and recruit account holders to deposit them before banks can flag the transactions, according to the Federal Bureau of Investigation.
Business checks are especially attractive to theft rings because commercial accounts tend to hold larger balances and corporate victims often take longer than individual consumers to notice missing disbursements, according to Truxton Trust. That detection gap gives fraud rings a window to move stolen funds before financial institutions can place holds on suspicious deposits.
A Nationwide Surge in Check Fraud
The Twin Cities case lands amid a broader national spike in check-related crime. The FBI says suspicious-activity reports for check fraud nearly doubled from 2021 to 2023. U.S. Treasury Department data cited by Forbes estimates that check fraud accounted for roughly $21 billion in total financial losses in 2023, with stolen mail serving as a major contributor.
The case involves federal charges against all six defendants.
It remains unclear whether any funds have been recovered. The case follows a string of recent federal financial crime cases in the Twin Cities region, including a $3.6M Medicaid housing scam indictment.
