SALT LAKE CITY, Utah, Aug. 31, 2024 (Gephardt Daily) — A Georgia man has pleaded guilty to more than $210,000 in check fraud in Utah.
Toddorius Goodwin, 34, of Lithonia, Georgia, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit bank fraud and aggravated identity fraud.
According to court documents and admissions made during Goodwin’s change of plea hearing, “Goodwin and his associates traveled from Georgia to engage in a check fraud scheme in Utah and elsewhere,” says a statement issued by the United States Attorney’s Office, District of Utah.
“They recruited impoverished individuals locally to assist with their scheme. Goodwin and his associates stole payroll checks from private mailboxes, altered the “payable to” names on the checks to the recruited individual’s name, and sent that individual into various banks to cash the forged checks in exchange for a cut of the profit.
“Goodwin and his associates successfully cashed at least $214,179.51 worth of counterfeit checks in Utah within just a few months, from April to October 2022.”
Goodwin is scheduled to be sentenced Nov. 7 of this year before a U.S. District Court Judge at the Orrin G. Hatch United States District Courthouse in downtown Salt Lake City.
The case is being investigated by Homeland Security Investigations.
