Warrant issued for alleged check counterfeiters

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WORTHINGTON — Warrants have been issued for two Sioux Falls, S.D. men who cashed counterfeit checks at the Worthington Walmart in February, according to criminal complaints filed through Nobles County District Court.

The complaint states Timothy Ronald Maddox, 25, and Michael Lee Rinker, 41, are each charged with possession or sale of a stolen or counterfeit check and theft by swindle.

They are accused of transferring a check knowing it was stolen or counterfeit, and of obtaining property or services from another person by swindle, through artifice, trick or a device.

The complaint states the Worthington Police Department received information February 15 from the Sioux Falls Police Department indicating several checks had been written on the checking account of TJN Enterprises, a scrap recycling business.

TJN had notified the Sioux Falls Police Department of checks that had been returned to them that had been not been written by their business.

The checks had been returned to Wells Fargo, with a Wells Fargo routing number and the business account number, but were on First National Bank checks. The checks were payable to Rinker and Maddox.

The check for Maddox was in the amount of $876.46 on the account of Olympic Drywall.

The cashier at Walmart had entered a South Dakota ID number Maddox.

The check payable to Rinker was for $756.32 on the account of Gil Haugen Construction, with an Indiana ID number for Rinker. Video surveillance of the two men presenting the checks at Walmart matched photographs of Maddox and Rinker.

Information provided to law enforcement indicates the men could possibly be in custody in South Dakota, but because their exact whereabouts are unknown, warrants for their arrest were requested.

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