Man Faces New Charges In Fraud Scheme Involving Stolen Checks Worth $200K: Greenwich PD

GREENWICH, CT — A 30-year-old man who was arrested over the summer faces additional felony charges stemming from an elaborate fraud scheme involving stolen checks totaling hundreds of thousands of dollars, according to an announcement from Greenwich police on Friday.

Onyedikachi Chukwujekwu Agu, of New Rochelle, N.Y., was arrested on a warrant on Oct. 1 that charges him with first-degree conspiracy to commit larceny; first-degree identity theft; first-degree conspiracy to commit identity theft; 10 counts of trafficking in personal identifying information; 10 counts of third-degree forgery; and 10 counts of third-degree conspiracy to commit forgery.

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The additional felony charges are a result of a continued investigation by the Greenwich Police Department's Organized Retail Crime Abatement Unit, or ORCA.

On July 15, plainclothes ORCA officers investigated a financial crime at a bank on Greenwich Avenue, and Agu was one of four individuals detained during the investigation, police said, and he was ultimately arrested.

ORCA officers seized Agu's cellphone and obtained a search warrant for the device. An examination of the phone "revealed additional evidence related to an organized financial fraud scheme," police said.

"Investigators determined that Agu trafficked personal identifying information belonging to more than 30 identity theft victims by transmitting the information to multiple co-conspirators through Telegram," police said. "In one exchange with an individual, Agu transmitted approximately 17 checks totaling $`200,000, which were subsequently altered."

Officers contacted the victim who confirmed that his company had been the victim of a financial crime and sustained a financial loss, police said.

"The Greenwich Police Department recognizes Officers DeLuca and Livingston for their thorough and persistent investigative work in this case," police said.