Massachusetts Man Pleads Guilty to Conspiring to Steal Mail and Cash Counterfeit Checks

 PORTLAND, Maine:  A Holbrook, Massachusetts man pleaded guilty in federal court today to conspiring to steal checks from the mail in Maine and to cash counterfeit versions of those checks at banks in Massachusetts, Acting U.S. Attorney Donald E. Clark announced.

According to court records, in September 2016, two business checks were stolen from the mail in Scarborough, Maine. The intended recipients of the checks were both businesses located in an industrial park in Scarborough. About two weeks later, Christopher Farnham, 35, and his co-defendant Nicholas Veelenturf cashed or attempted to cash counterfeit versions of the two checks at several TD Bank branch locations in Massachusetts. The routing and account numbers for each business had been printed on different check stock, the check amounts had been increased significantly, and the names of the payees had been altered to either Farnham’s or Veelenturf’s name. The total amount of the checks cashed was almost $16,000.

Farnham faces up to five years in prison and a fine of up to $250,000. He also faces up to three years of supervised release. He will be sentenced after the completion of a presentence investigation report by the U.S. Probation Office.

Nicholas Veelenturf was sentenced in October 2018 to two years in prison and three years of supervised release. He was also ordered to pay restitution in the full amount of the two checks.

The U.S. Postal Inspection Service investigated the case.