Samuel Stewart, 26, and Royce Charles Leron Finger Jr., 22, face one state conspiracy charge each in St. Louis. Prosecutors allege they recruited homeless people to cash U.S. Treasury checks as part of a scheme involving checks worth $3.4 million.
Fox2Now reported that at least one check involved in the case was valued at more than $882,000.
According to Fox2Now, the alleged recruiters sought people experiencing homelessness or drug addiction and had them open accounts using false identities. The report said the men supplied some recruits with housing and other support, including food, money and drugs, to keep them involved.
How the Alleged Scheme Worked
Investigators found fake passport cards, Fox2Now reported. Recruits allegedly used false identities to open bank accounts.
Detectives Traced the Checks Back a Year
The investigation began after detectives received reports in September 2025 that Stewart and Finger had obtained Treasury checks made out to people believed to have no connection to them, Fox2Now reported. One check reportedly exceeded $882,000.
The checks at the center of the case had a combined value of $3.4 million.
Arrest Came During Attempt to Unfreeze an Account
Police arrested Stewart in October 2025 while he was reportedly accompanying an individual seeking to unfreeze a business account opened using a stolen identity, Fox2Now reported. A search of Stewart's St. Louis apartment turned up three fake U.S. Passport cards, three fake Citi Bank Mastercards, a U.S. Treasury check valued around $25,000, two checkbooks and card-writing software, according to the station. Fox2Now reported that Stewart and Finger were taken into custody and booked into jail without bond.
Part of a Broader Pattern Nationally
The alleged use of recruited check depositors has parallels in broader fraud reporting. Abrigo describes a practice in which people, sometimes called walkers or money mules, deposit checks in person for criminals. The firm says people who are elderly, disabled or homeless may be targeted, and that recruits in these schemes are often paid a flat fee.
A Secret Service case in the Providence, Rhode Island, area also involved a scheme that exploited homeless and transient individuals, according to the U.S. Secret Service.
What Broader Fraud Data—and an Earlier Case—Show
Federal figures provide context, but do not establish what happened in St. Louis. The Financial Crimes Enforcement Network said financial institutions filed more than 680,000 suspicious activity reports related to potential check fraud in 2022, nearly double the previous year’s total. In a separate review, FinCEN said it received 15,417 reports from 841 financial institutions concerning mail theft-related check fraud during the six months after its 2023 alert, representing more than $688 million in reported suspicious activity. These reports are not confirmed counts of crimes, do not specifically track recruitment of unhoused people, and do not provide evidence about the St. Louis allegations. A separate Providence-area case illustrates both a similarity and a difference. In an April 2022 release, the U.S. Secret Service described four Georgia men recruiting homeless and other individuals to cash counterfeit business checks at financial institutions in Rhode Island and other New England states; it reported that the fourth defendant pleaded guilty. That case involved counterfeit business checks and a different region, while the St. Louis matter involves allegations concerning Treasury checks and state conspiracy charges.
