Six people were arrested and charged in connection with stealing more than a million dollars from the Bazooka bubble gum company, according to the Manhattan district attorney.
Kashawn Williams came in possession of a check for just over $1.24 million from a Texas-based company in Oct. 2022, after it was sent to a Manhattan address that formerly was associated with Bazooka, court documents state. Later that same month, the 31-year-old Williams created a phony company, The Bazooka Companies 1 Inc., as a way for him to cash the check.
Three days after that, on Oct. 24, Williams opened a corporate bank account for the fake company, where he deposited the stolen check, according to court documents.
Over the next two weeks, the DA Williams wrote checks on behalf of his made-up company to five different people: 41-year-old Adrean Jacobs, 25-year-old Jose Gutierrez, 30-year-old Akheim Watts and 35-year-old Kiearra Reynolds. He allegedly listed fake reasons for the checks on the memo lines, like "Renovations," "Business Loan" and "Packaging Preorder."
Each of the five deposited their check into their personal bank accounts.
For himself, Williams took out more than $102,000 in cash from the phony business account over a 10-day span in early Nov. 2022, according to court documents. He also transferred a quarter of a million dollars from the fake account to his personal Chase account, the district attorney said, then laundered it by moving most of that cashed to a personal Capital One account. From there, he withdrew more than $159,000 in cash.
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The suspects also used a series cashier's checks remitted to another person, 49-year-old Ronald Franklin, to launder some of the money, District Attorney Alvin Bragg said. Included among the cashier's checks was one for $32,000 from Williams through the fake Bazooka account, and another for $25,000 from Jacobs' personal account, court documents state.
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“As alleged, this group stole more than a million dollars by intercepting a check, creating a fraudulent corporate business account, and laundering the money for personal gain,” said Bragg. “Despite the decline in the use of paper checks, check fraud is on the rise. We urge New Yorkers and businesses alike to use secure electronic payment methods whenever possible to protect themselves from fraud.”
The suspects were indicted Thursday, facing multiple charges including money laundering, possession of stolen property and conspiracy, the DA said. Williams was also charged with first-degree grand larceny and identity theft.
The investigation into the check fraud ring is ongoing.
