MONROE - A criminal complaint filed in Green County Circuit Court alleges a 20-year-old defrauded the Bank of New Glarus and a Pizza Hut payroll company in Texas by cashing counterfeit checks, then evaded police.
Jamari M. Caffrey, a former resident of New Glarus now living in Calumet City, Illinois, was charged Oct. 30 with two Class H felony counts of fraud against a financial institution.
He signed a $5,000 signature bond in court last week, with the conditions that he have no contact with the Sugar River Bank or Bank of New Glarus, in person or by written communication.
According to the criminal complaint:
Police opened an investigation into Caffrey in January, after a bank employee reported that Caffrey had deposited three suspicious checks totaling $2,700 on Jan. 13 using his mobile phone.
Less than two hours later, he withdrew $2,700 in cash.
Several days later, he attempted to deposit four similar checks totaling $3,200 but was rejected by the bank.
The checks, supposedly issued by "Newton Associated 1," were doctored to appear similar to checks from Newton Associates 1 Ltd, a Pizza Hut payroll company in San Antonio, Texas.
"Overall, it seemed like it was a huge fraud network occurring with this account," the investigating officer noted in a report.
The bank employee reached Caffrey by phone and made a plan for him to pay the money back to the bank, but Caffrey never showed up for the appointment and avoided follow-up phone calls.
Caffrey told police he'd already spent $1,700 of the money on a car, then started also avoiding the officer's multiple attempts to reach him again by phone and at his apartment at 300 Elmer Road.
Instead of letting the officer's calls go to voicemail, Caffrey would answer and then hang up. The officer described one of these calls in detail.
"I called back again and a male subject picked up the phone and said, 'Hello.' I asked for Jamari Caffrey. I will note there was music playing in the background that was not present on other phone call attempts," the officer wrote. "The male subject said, 'Sorry, you got the wrong number.' I then said that the voice sounded just like Caffrey, who I had spoken to before. The caller sat on the phone and said nothing and the music was still playing. ... The subject waited 10-15 seconds and then ended the phone call by hanging up."
"It was apparent that the person on the other end of the phone was playing games and had done similar acts to (the bank employee)," the officer wrote.
As of March, the officer reported that Caffrey "has not been seen around the Village of New Glarus."
Caffrey's preliminary hearing is Nov. 30.
Jamari M. Caffrey, a former resident of New Glarus now living in Calumet City, Illinois, was charged Oct. 30 with two Class H felony counts of fraud against a financial institution.
He signed a $5,000 signature bond in court last week, with the conditions that he have no contact with the Sugar River Bank or Bank of New Glarus, in person or by written communication.
According to the criminal complaint:
Police opened an investigation into Caffrey in January, after a bank employee reported that Caffrey had deposited three suspicious checks totaling $2,700 on Jan. 13 using his mobile phone.
Less than two hours later, he withdrew $2,700 in cash.
Several days later, he attempted to deposit four similar checks totaling $3,200 but was rejected by the bank.
The checks, supposedly issued by "Newton Associated 1," were doctored to appear similar to checks from Newton Associates 1 Ltd, a Pizza Hut payroll company in San Antonio, Texas.
"Overall, it seemed like it was a huge fraud network occurring with this account," the investigating officer noted in a report.
The bank employee reached Caffrey by phone and made a plan for him to pay the money back to the bank, but Caffrey never showed up for the appointment and avoided follow-up phone calls.
Caffrey told police he'd already spent $1,700 of the money on a car, then started also avoiding the officer's multiple attempts to reach him again by phone and at his apartment at 300 Elmer Road.
Instead of letting the officer's calls go to voicemail, Caffrey would answer and then hang up. The officer described one of these calls in detail.
"I called back again and a male subject picked up the phone and said, 'Hello.' I asked for Jamari Caffrey. I will note there was music playing in the background that was not present on other phone call attempts," the officer wrote. "The male subject said, 'Sorry, you got the wrong number.' I then said that the voice sounded just like Caffrey, who I had spoken to before. The caller sat on the phone and said nothing and the music was still playing. ... The subject waited 10-15 seconds and then ended the phone call by hanging up."
"It was apparent that the person on the other end of the phone was playing games and had done similar acts to (the bank employee)," the officer wrote.
As of March, the officer reported that Caffrey "has not been seen around the Village of New Glarus."
Caffrey's preliminary hearing is Nov. 30.