A Columbus man is charged with stealing checks and using murdered man’s bank account

A man charged with 15 counts of fraud and related offenses that involved using the identity of a murdered man, pleaded not guilty in court Friday morning. He did not appear in court.

Steven Verrett, 36, has been charged with five counts of third-degree forgery, three counts of identity fraud, two counts of criminal attempt of theft by deception, theft by deception, computer trespass, financial transaction card forgery, computer invasion of privacy and computer forgery.

The charges of criminal attempt of theft by deception and theft by deception are both felonies.

An internal investigator from Navy Federal Credit Union sent video to Columbus police officer, Corporal Christy Edenfield of an employee he believed to be committing fraud. The employee was identified as Verrett.

The report from NFCU showed five stolen checks had been deposited into the account of Jermaine Thirkield, who was murdered in Muscogee County Nov. 21, 2023. Edenfield said all fraud happened after Thirkield died.

Edenfield said the videos show Verrett depositing the checks into Thirkield’s account Dec. 26, 2023, making a new debit card connected to the account and using it.

The checks all came from companies in North Carolina and were stolen from the mail. They ranged from $100,000 to nearly $300,000, for a total value of roughly $861,000.

Edenfield said a fraudulent car loan was taken out Dec. 12 under Thirkield’s name for $17,000. CPD has not recovered the car or the money.

The total loss on the case is $17,000 because the companies were able to stop payment on the stolen checks and did not lose any money. Edenfield said the total exposure for the crimes is nearly $890,000.

CPD’s Financial Crime Unit reported that the case is ongoing and there are at least seven other accounts “with similar situations.” At least two other potential victims have contacted CPD so far, police said.

Judge Alonza Whitaker held there was probable cause to proceed in the case and set bond at $375,000.

This story was originally published May 31, 2024 at 11:16 AM.