Fayette business

owners are being asked to make sure their checkbooks are well-secured

now that a stolen check scheme has made its way to Fayette County.

Several checks

were stolen last month from Fayette Garage Door, said Lt. Mahlon Donald

of the Fayette County Sheriff's Department. They were likely stolen by

at least two people working together to distract the owner and take several

checks unnoticed, Donald said.

Two suspects

have been arrested after trying to cash the checks: Calvin Cornell and

Alan Sanders. A third suspect has been arrested by another agency: Edward

Jennings, who is currently in the DeKalb County jail. All three are charged

with forgery.

The catch is

that the arrests won't stop the crimes, which have been occurring all

over the metro Atlanta area "for years," Donald said. That's

because those arrested are homeless people from Atlanta who are recruited

to cash stolen or other fraudulent checks in return for a percentage of

the profits, Donald said. The recruits are picked up in small groups before

banks are targeted, Donald said.

The suspects

who have been arrested tried to cash the checks at the SunTrust Bank at

Fayette Pavilion, Donald said.

The Sheriff's

Department will work with several other area agencies to investigate similar

cases, Donald said.