Two people charged in Tri-City counterfeit check cashing ring

Charges have been filed against at least two people who allegedly are part of a counterfeit check cashing ring in which they split half the money with unidentified accomplices.

Roy Joseph Camargo Jr., 33, of Fossil, Ore., has pleaded innocent in Franklin County Superior Court to two counts of forgery.

He is expected back in court Oct. 28 to possibly change his plea. If he doesn‘t, his trial is scheduled Dec. 10.

Meanwhile, co-defendant Cassandra May Carter, 25, of Kennewick, missed her court date and now has a bench warrant for her arrest. She also faces two counts of forgery.

Camargo allegedly went to Crazy Moose Casino on Sept. 30 and cashed a $992.26 check. The check showed a legitimate inventory corporation as the payee and was signed by Camargo, but it came back from the bank as counterfeit, court documents said.

Camargo returned Oct. 9 to the 510 S. 20th Ave. casino with a $1,942.25 check, again from a legitimate wholesale company, documents said.

The transaction was not completed because of the previous counterfeit check. The paper and style of printing on the two checks were almost identical, court documents said.

Pasco police were called and arrested Camargo. Officers reportedly found a check in his pocket that exactly matched the one he cashed on Sept. 30.

Camargo admitted being a member of the counterfeit ring and said he got to keep about half the money he got from cashing checks, documents said. He also claimed he’d been cut off from state Department of Labor and Industries payments and needed the money.

Court documents show that Carter went into Fiesta Foods on Sept. 8 and cashed two separate checks from a beauty product company. One check was for $913.27 and the other for $927.54.

Police were called to the 115 S. 10th Ave. store two days later after loss prevention discovered the checks were returned by the bank because they’d been altered, documents said.

The store clerk who’d cashed the checks had collected the customer’s fingerprints, identification and photos, and that information reportedly matched Carter.

When interviewed by police, Carter allegedly admitted making the checks from images on the internet and using check paper she took from Camargo.

Camargo is in the Franklin County jail on $1,000 bail for the forgeries, along with $5,000 for a warrant out of Benton County.

He’s charged in Benton County Superior Court with first-degree theft and is scheduled to appear Oct. 29 on that case.

Camargo rushed a man in the parking lot outside Burlington Coat Factory in Kennewick and tried to punch him, according to court documents. He was carrying a baseball bat in the Jan. 12 incident but never swung it at the victim before taking his shopping bag, which held a new pair of men’s jeans, documents said.

Camargo reportedly was identified through surveillance footage because he was inside the store before the confrontation.

This story was originally published October 26, 2014 at 12:00 AM with the headline "Two people charged in Tri-City counterfeit check cashing ring."