WATERLOO, Iowa – Police arrested 18 suspects in a check kiting scheme that allegedly bilked area credit unions and banks out of more than $100,000.
Among the victim institutions were Veridian CU, Iowa Community CU, Wells Fargo and Regions Bank.
Prosecutors said members of the group opened accounts at various institutions to get starter checks and debit cards. They then swapped checks and misused the “float” in bank transactions to make false deposits and artificially inflate the value of the accounts.
Members allegedly used the debit cards and checks to get cash and make purchases.
