Check fraud scheme ends in Double Springs

WINSTON COUNTY    -  A Jasper woman wanted on numerous counts of fraud in Walker County after cashing or attempting to cash counterfeit checks from was nabbed in Winston County after committing similar acts in the Lynn area.

Rhonda Lynn McBryde, 53, faces two counts  of forgery/possession of a forged instrument third degree and possession of drug paraphernalia from the Double Springs Police Department, as well as charges of theft of property fourth degree and criminal trespassing third degree from the Lynn Police Department.
“She had previously worked for the Quality Inn of Jasper,” noted Sgt. Andy Tucker with Double Springs Police.
McBryde had allegedly obtained the bank routing numbers from the Quality Inn checks, printed counterfeit checks with the hotel’s name on them and wrote them out as payroll checks to herself.  She was then able to cash them at multiple locations across Walker County, including banks and convenience stores, law enforcement said.  In fact, McBryde had allegedly cashed or attempted to cash around 14 counterfeit payroll checks, each of which was under $500, according to Tucker.
McBryde was caught at Listerhill Credit Union in Double Springs attempting to cash one of the fake Quality Inn checks for $387.15, Tucker noted.
“She was trying to make it look like a payroll check,” Tucker pointed out. At the time McBryde was attempting to cash the fake payroll check, she had not worked at Quality Inn  for about a month, police said.
Listerhill in Double Springs, contacted dispatch based on information that McBryde had cashed a stolen check before and was attempting cash another check that appeared suspicious, according to law enforcement.
Double Springs Police was joined at Listerhill by Lynn Police and the Winston County Sheriff’s Office.
A glass pipe containing residue believed to be methamphetamine was found in McBryde’s Chevrolet Cobalt parked at Listerhill, Tucker said.  The pipe was sent to the Alabama Department of Forensic Science for further analysis and the Cobalt was towed from the scene by Pruitt’s Towing of Double Springs, Tucker noted.
“We were glad that Listerhill was observant and called us as quickly as they did because she was about to walk out of the door when I got there,” said Tucker.

*When  a defendant is charged with a crime, the charge is merely an accusation until or unless proven guilty in a court of law.