3 arrested by Secret Service face federal charges, officers say

"Everything on there was erased except my account and my routing number," said Randy McCoy, from Stanfield.

McCoy showed Eyewitness News a copy of a check that he says has his old account number on it but not his name.

He says he never wrote it or several other checks that in a month totaled almost $1500.

"You hear about this stuff happening all the time but I didn't know if we'd ever get to the bottom of it," said McCoy.

As the bills grew he says his family worked to fight a faceless stranger stealing their money. Eyewitness News found McCoy after going through reports the Stanly County Sheriff's Office says are part of a counterfeit check investigation that the Federal Government has taken over.

On Jan. 30, the Stanly County Sheriff's Office says that Micah Bolton of Charlotte, Roger Melchor of Indian Trail and Andra Barnes of Concord were arrested by the Secret Service.

The Sheriff's Office says the men face federal charges of bank fraud, conspiracy and aiding and abetting.

"It's a crime just as much as if they held me up on the street of Stanford," said McCoy.

Investigators say one of the suspects took people's information, like check numbers, from a food distribution company he worked for and then write checks at stores across the area including in Charlotte, even into South Carolina.

The Stanly County Sheriff's Office says it knows of at least 50 victims in its county, including residents, businesses, churches, even a volunteer fire department. It estimates the fraud loss at more than $100,000.

It says there are crime reports in other nearby counties as well.

The Sheriff's Office says the Albemarle Police Department, Granite Quarry Police Department, Rock Hill Police Department, Cabarrus County Sheriff's Office, Gastonia Police Department, Concord Police Department, Union County Sheriff's Office and Davidson County Sheriff's Office also work on the investigation.

McCoy says he now has his money back but his sense of security has been shaken.

"I did everything I thought I was doing right and I'm very careful where I write checks. I don't do as much check writing anymore," said McCoy.

The investigation is ongoing and investigators say there could be more victims.

WSOC