A North Carolina man was arrested in Naples after being accused attempting to pay a homeless man to cash a fraudulent check for more than $43,000.
The Collier County Sheriff's Office said Lareese Mallety, 31, is facing multiple felony charges following his arrest on Wednesday.
Deputies responded to Suncoast Credit Union on Tamiami Trail on March 6 around after receiving reports of someone attempting to cash a fraudulent check.
The witness told deputies that he was being forced to cash a check and that the suspects were outside waiting for him.
Deputies talked to the branch manager, along with the witness who said he was in a parked car when another car with North Carolina tags parked next to him.
Mallety then reportedly asked the man if he wanted to work and asked if he had two forms of ID to cash a check.
The man entered the vehicle, according to CCSO, where Mallety and two passengers were sitting. The woman in the passenger's seat reportedly took out a check and type his personal information on to the check using a portable typewriter.
The man told deputies that the suspects wanted him to go to an ATM to deposit the check, but he told them he was more comfortable going to his local branch.
Mallety drove the man to Suncoast Credit Union and dropped him off before parking in a shopping center parking lot nearby.
Once the man got inside he talked to a bank employee, showing them the check before asking the teller if it was any good.
The witness reportedly told employees what was happening. While telling them, one of the female passengers entered the bank and quickly left after seeing him talking to the branch manager.
As deputies arrived on the scene, Mallety's car was reportedly abandoned in the back corner of the Towne Center Strip Mall parking lot.
Deputies said the fraudulent check was from the State of Florida Department of Financial Services, and it was made out for $43,875.79 with the witness's name, delivery address and Naples, Florida, along with the zip code.
CCSO said surveillance was set up on Mallety's vehicle before deputies contacted Mallety who originally provided a false name and tried to run away.
Mallety was arrested and taken to the Naples Jail Center where deputies said they found a second cashier's check written on a Wells Fargo account in his pocket.
The check was reportedly filled out with the witness's personal information for the amount of $2,200.00.
Deputies said they discovered that Mallety was on federal probation out of North Carolina for utilizing fraudulent stolen checks, which occurred in 2019.
Mallety is facing one count of grand theft and two counts of fraud.
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