Home » Couple accused of fraud, forgery in court

Couple accused of fraud, forgery in court

by Minden Press-Herald
R. Warren

R. Warren

B. Warren

B. Warren

A couple accused of fraud and forgery, among many other counts, was in court this week.

Barbara Lynn Warren was in court in front of 26th Judicial District Judge Mike Craig for arraignment on charges of bank fraud, issuing worthless checks and monetary instrument abuse.

Status conference is set for Monday, July 20, with a trial date set for Dec. 7.

Raymond Warren was also in court in front of Judge Craig for arraignment on charges of identity theft, access device fraud, unlawful possession of fraudulent documents for identification purposes, computer fraud, issuing worthless checks, bank fraud, forgery, monetary instrument abuse and online impersonation.

Status conference is set for Monday, July 20, with a trial date set for Dec. 7.

“The district attorney himself accepted charges, but I have yet to determine exactly what they will be,” Assistant District Attorney Hugo Holland said. “After consultation with our law enforcement partners at the Minden Police Department, who did an excellent investigation, I am inclined to work with my victims on a pre-trial resolution acceptable not only to them but to the police as well.

“Of course, once I make a charging decision, if the Warrens do not come to court and accept responsibility for their crimes, I will bring the full weight of the State to bear against them, and likely try them for racketeering which carries from 10 to 50 years at Angola and up to a one million dollar fine,” he continued.

Minden Police Chief Steve Cropper says at the time of their arrest the couple had written a total of $21,000 in bad checks from two banks. The National Crime Insurance Bureau contacted Minden Police in regards to the matter of insurance fraud.
During a search of the couple’s home, police seized numerous boxes of checks, checkbooks, paperwork and some electronics. Investigators also seized a truck purchased under an assumed name the Friday before their arrest.

Investigators say it all began when they were contacted by Brookshire’s Grocery Company in October 2014 in regards to two bad checks reportedly written by Barbara Warren.

Within a handful of days, a representative at Regions Bank contacted police telling them Raymond Warren had taken Navy Federal Credit Union checks and was writing them on an account for a nonexistent business.

“He was ‘kiting’ the checks from Regions Bank to the Navy Federal Credit Union,” Cropper said at the time of their arrest.
Kiting is a term used when checks are floated from bank to bank. In other words, Raymond Warren was essentially floating a check. Instead of writing a check and making a deposit before the check cleared, he would withdraw money from an ATM machine before the check came through and put it into another bank.

According to police, they were contacted by NCIB about alleged insurance fraud, where Raymond Warren allegedly filed claims against USAA, an insurance company for military members.

There were other instances of alleged insurance fraud and using false identification and paperwork at another local bank, and he was allegedly doing the same thing with two other banks in Bossier City.

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