18 charged in check fraud in Burlington County

Eighteen people were arrested Wednesday in connection with a check-kiting scheme that defrauded 12 banks of nearly $108,000, the Burlington County Prosecutor's Office said.

The individuals were charged with theft by deception and conspiracy. They deposited checks - which drew from closed or fake accounts - so a bank would immediately provide them with a portion of the deposited funds, the prosecutor's office said. The banks later dishonored many of the checks, authorities said.

Investigators began tracking the scheme in 2014, when bounced checks in the name of Shameka Scribner, 21, of Browns Mills, surfaced in banks across Burlington County. Authorities later identified a number of "co-conspirators," who were depositing each other's checks, which also bounced.

- Michael Boren