13 Indicted on Conspiracy Charges in Counterfeit Check Cashing Scheme

Memphis, TN – Thirteen people were indicted today on conspiracy charges for their alleged participation in a counterfeit check cashing scheme that defrauded Kroger of more than $300,000. Edward L. Stanton III, U.S. Attorney for the Western District of Tennessee, announced the indictment.

The case is being investigated by the United States Secret Service and the United States Postal Inspection Service.

The defendants indicted include:

• Eureka Roshanda Mathis a/k/a Eureka Barnes, 36, Memphis

• Khiyenne Tarinee Daniel, 20, Memphis

• Iesha Lazaira Davis, 24, Memphis

• Crystal Lynette Dennis, 40, Memphis

• Paul Anthony Dowdy, 25, Memphis

• Zakiyyah Lateefah Fitzgerald a/k/a Zakiyyah Adams, 38, Memphis

• Christopher La Renza Gathright, 23, Memphis

• Larry Joseph Lennix Jr, 24, Memphis

• Marcus T. Simmons, 25, Memphis

• Candice Cammille Starks a/k/a Candice Gaither, 36, Memphis

• Dorsett Starks, 28, Memphis

• Tischinna Amon Walton, 19, Memphis

• Lonell D. Weeks Jr., 39, Memphis

As the indictment alleges, the scheme was orchestrated by 36-year-old Eureka Mathis, a resident of Memphis. From February 2013 to August 2014, Mathis stole checks from the mailboxes of local businesses, primarily the United Food and Commercial Workers Union’s (UFCW) local chapter #1529 in Cordova, TN. Other businesses in the Cordova area were also victims of Mathis’ mail thefts.

The UFCW is a labor union representing approximately 1.3 million grocery, retail, food processing, and meat packing industry workers in the United States. According to the indictment, approximately 75 percent of Kroger employees are represented by the UFCW through its 400 local union chapters.

Mathis fraudulently altered the stolen UFCW checks by changing the name of the payee to one of her co-conspirators. She also used the stolen checks as templates to create counterfeit checks made payable to her co-conspirators and to others she recruited to further her scheme.

Over the two-plus-year period Mathis executed her scheme, she recruited more than two dozen individuals to cash the counterfeit checks. The co-conspirators traveled to various Kroger locations nationwide, as well as other establishments that provided check cashing services, to cash the counterfeit checks. The checks ranged from several hundred dollars to more than $2,000.

• Each defendant is being charged with one count of conspiracy to commit mail theft and to pass and utter fictitious obligations. If convicted, they each face up to five years imprisonment and individual fines of up to $250,000.

• Each defendant is being charged with one count of conspiracy to commit bank fraud. If convicted, they each face up to 30 years imprisonment and individual fines of up to $1 million.

• In addition to the aforementioned charges, Mathis is being charged with four counts of receipt and possession of stolen mail. Walton is being charged with two counts of receipt and possession of stolen mail. Davis is being charged with one count of receipt and possession of stolen mail. They each face up to five years imprisonment and individual fines of up to $250,000 per offense of conviction.

• Mathis is also being charged with one count of manufacturing counterfeited and forged securities. If convicted, she faces up to 10 years imprisonment and up to $250,000 in fines.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Leetra Harris is prosecuting this case on the government’s behalf.

The charges and allegations contained in the indictment are merely accusations, and the defendants are considered innocent unless and until proven guilty.