Men accused of forging more than $750K in money orders
A Shelby man, along with three others from Charlotte, is accused of cashing in on fake money orders to gain more than $750,000.
Ravenna Lee Dorsey, Jr., 33, of Charlotte, Jaren Jamar Hopkins-Benton, 28, of Charlotte, Gregory Jeremy Singleton, 27, of Charlotte, and Shawn Joanta Brooks, 40, of Shelby, were each charged Thursday with conspiracy to defraud the United States by possessing and passing forged and altered USPS money orders, and possession of stolen and fraudulently altered USPS money orders.
According to allegations in the indictment, between November 2020 and February 2023, the four men acquired approximately 2,500 blank United States Postal Service money orders stolen from a Charlotte area post office.
The indictment alleges that the men purchased and used legitimate USPS money orders as templates to generate falsified and forged USPS money orders, which they deposited into multiple bank accounts and credit union accounts, and then withdrew the cash proceeds before the financial institutions detected the fraud.
As alleged in the indictment, the men redeemed approximately 800 of the stolen USPS money orders, causing losses totaling more than $750,000.
The conspiracy charge and each count of possession of stolen and fraudulently altered USPS money orders carry a maximum penalty of five years in prison and a $250,00 fine per count.
Diane Turbyfill can be reached at dturbyfill@shelbystar.com.
This article originally appeared on The Shelby Star: Men charged with forging money orders.
