DA: 6 Orange County Residents Scammed $250,000 From Businesses
Six Orange County residents are accused of defrauding businesses across the Hudson Valley out of a quarter of a million dollars.
On Thursday, Orange County District Attorney David M. Hoovler announced six Hudson Valley residents were arrested following an investigation into an alleged check fraud scheme.
The group allegedly defrauded businesses in Orange County including Ironworkers Local 417 in Wallkill
Newburgh, Middletown Residents Arrested in Orange County
Turgaud Dubuisson, 29, of Newburgh; Anthony Dubuisson, 25, of Newburgh; Robert Geter, 46, of Newburgh; Marlon Tabora, 25, of Newburgh; Daniel DeLeon, 32, of Newburgh; and Tonya Best, 46, of Middletown were indicted by an Orange County Grand Jury in connection with a wide-ranging fraud scheme that spanned from March 2021 through April 2022, officials say.
The alleged scheme resulted in a total loss of over $250,000 to local businesses, according to the Orange County District Attorney's Office.
The group is accused of engaging in a scheme of depositing altered or fraudulent checks that belonged to Ironworkers Local 417 and other area businesses, as well as individuals.
The altered or fake checks were deposited into various bank accounts and then taken out as cash from multiple banks in the Hudson Valley.
"The defendants, acting in concert with each other, created fake business accounts to facilitate the check deposits. The total amount of forged and altered checks from the Ironworkers Local 417 is in excess of $190,000 and the total amount of checks deposited from all victims is in excess of $250,000," the Orange County District Attorney's Office states.
Firearms Seized By Orange County, New York Officials
Search warrants executed at a home resulted in the recovery of two loaded firearms, as well as financial information, blank checks and other items used to create and alter checks, officials say.
“The allegations of fraudulently targeting institutions such as the Ironworkers Local 417 are abhorrent,” Hoovler said. “All too often we see that behind the scenes of high-end fraud cases are illegally possessed firearms that serve to facilitate the operations of the scheme. My Office will continue, with our law enforcement partners, the painstaking work to identify victims of fraud, to seek to make them whole and to hold to account those responsible for perpetrating the scams.”
The investigation was led by the Town of Newburgh Police Department and assisted by the Town of New Windsor Police Department, Dutchess County Sheriff’s Office, Orange County District Attorney’s Office Investigators, Orange County Sheriff’s Office, and the NYS Department of Financial Services.
The investigation into the scheme is ongoing and additional arrests are expected, police say.