SHEBOYGAN, WI (WHBL) - What lengths would one person go to if they wanted to cover up the fact that they don’t have money to cover checks they write, but claimed they did? That's what a Plymouth woman is accused of doing, costing several people over 11-hundred dollars of their own money in the process.
The details of these alleged crimes came to light Friday when Sheboygan County prosecutors charged 37 year old Jessica Reinke of Plymouth with 16 felonies and misdemeanors for what she is accused of doing over the past three months. The charges include multiple counts of misdemeanor theft, identity theft for financial gain, unauthorized use of an entity’s identifying information or documents, and bail jumping.
The criminal complaint states the Sheboygan County Sheriff’s Department began their investigation on December 12th when a Town of Sheboygan Falls couple reported a fraud complaint.
The couple claims Reinke asked them to cash two checks for her for 480-dollars in early November. When they asked her why she could not do this herself, she allegedly claimed there were problems with her bank account, and that it would be easier for them to cash her checks since she needed some cash right away to cover car repairs.
They did what she asked, but a few days later they got a letter back from their bank that the checks Reinke sent to them to cover the money were from a closed account. That meant the couple was responsible for the money, plus fees for the bounced checks, which totaled 504-dollars.
The couple reached out to Reinke, who allegedly said her bank account was the target of a scam from Africa, and that she has a fraud company trying to clean it up. The deputy followed up on this and found a bank account Reinke had at Kohler Credit Union was closed in April.
The deputy contacted Reinke just before Christmas. She reportedly told the deputy that she told the couple she had started a new account at Kohler Credit Union after starting a new job, and that she would be paying back the amount for the checks and fees in the future. However, when the deputy contacted the couple to verify the story, they said the only contact they had with Reinke was from a group text stating she was having a medical problem and was now back home.
The complaint goes on to say that the next actions taken by the deputy occurred in early January when he tried to find Reinke at her apartment. When he arrived, he came in contact with the landlord. In talking to him, the deputy soon found out the landlord was another alleged victim of Reinke’s bad check writing.
The landlord told the deputy he got in touch with Reinke in December about a week after he got a bad check to cover rent. He says Reinke provided another rent check, but also asked him to provide her 200-dollars to help her pay for a heating bill for the apartment, claiming she would have the money for all this in a few days. The landlord agreed to help, but a week later his bank told him the checks Reinke provided him bounced, and he was responsible for the 645-dollars for the checks and fees.
Also during their conversation, the landlord provided the deputy a letter that he thought would have a rent check. Instead, it was a letter that looked like it was from an employee from Kohler Credit Union stating he was working to get Reinke’s account back in order. However, both men doubted the legitimacy of the letter, given incorrect spelling and grammar, plus the official letterhead having an appearance that it was copied.
The landlord also provided the deputy with information of phone calls he and his wife received. He reportedly said his wife got the first call from a person claiming to be from the credit union who said she was calling on behalf of Reinke. The call ended abruptly after the wife questioned the legitimacy of the person talking to her. The landlord said no more than a minute later he got a call from Reinke who reportedly said someone from the credit union would have just called them, adding she will have the money for the checks in a few days.
The deputy looked into the letter the landlord got from Kohler Credit Union. An investigation found that the person’s name claiming to have written the letter was, in fact, a former employee who had stopped working there several months before the letter was sent. He said he did not send the letter to the landlord.
It was not until late January when the deputy got a hold of Reinke again when he came to the apartment. She reportedly told the deputy she was not responsible for the letter or the phone calls the landlord and his wife received. She added she was trying to repay those who had the bad checks written out for them.
Reinke is facing over 75 years in prison for all 16 charges she faces. In addition, court records show she was already facing charges for fraudulent use of a credit card, forgery and misappropriate use of an ID back in 2014 and 2015.