Vandergrift man accused by police of using juveniles, high school friends to cash fraudulent checks faces 15 felony charges

A Vandergrift man faces more than 30 charges, including 15 felonies, after investigators accused him of running a check-cashing scheme in Allegheny Township, Vandergrift and New Kensington.

Robert Freeman III, 18, of the 200 block of Linden Street faces four counts each of felony forgery, access device counterfeiting and criminal use of a communications facility, along with two felony counts of operating a corrupt organization and a count of conspiracy.

He also was charged with multiple counts of corruption of minors, fraudulent use of a credit card machine, theft and receiving stolen property.

Freeman was released from custody after posting a $5,000 unsecured bond. He faces a preliminary hearing June 28 before District Judge Cheryl Peck Yakopec.

Allegheny Township police wrote in a criminal complaint charging Freeman that they began investigating Feb. 4 after a man and his son reported that a check from Freeman they deposited into their joint bank account at First Commonwealth Bank was fraudulent and resulted in the account being frozen and an overdraft fee assessed.

The son told police that he and his girlfriend knew Freeman from high school and that Freeman contacted the son’s girlfriend through Facebook to ask her to cash a $2,450 check for him, the complaint said.

Freeman used the social media app to send her photos of the check, which was written from a company called Civil and Environmental Consultants. Police said they learned the check was fraudulent after contacting company officials.

In a separate incident, investigators said the parents of a 16-year-old girl went to the New Kensington Police Department on Feb. 3 to report that Freeman asked their daughter to deposit a $1,700 check into her PNC Bank account using a mobile app after he sent her photos of the check via Snapchat, according to the complaint.

Police said the check was fraudulent and resulted in a $1,198 overdraft of the girl’s account. The girl told police she refused several times to deposit the check but agreed after “persistent asking by Freeman,” according to the complaint.

The girl said she gave Freeman her PNC Bank debit card and the PIN associated with it Feb. 5 and that he made several transactions to withdraw $2,000 from her account, the complaint said.

Investigators said video from the bank shows Freeman made the withdrawals or was present when they were made, according to the complaint. Police said they obtained a search warrant for Freeman’s Snapchat sessions, which showed him sending photos of the check to the girl.

Police said Freeman also asked another high school acquaintance to deposit a $2,400 check into his First Commonwealth bank account using a mobile app Feb. 1, but the check was rejected because it was fraudulent. The acquaintance told police Freeman sent him several other checks to deposit but they, too, were rejected, the complaint said.

Police said the pair then went to the First Commonwealth branch in Vandergrift to try to cash a check but were unable to receive any money.

A search warrant obtained by police for records from Freeman’s Facebook account confirmed he sent photos of several fraudulent checks to the acquaintance to be cashed, the complaint said.

The Facebook records also showed Freeman was in contact with a juvenile in early December who cashed checks for him, the complaint said. The juvenile, who was not identified in Freeman’s arrest papers, is being charged separately by police, according to the complaint.