Bank fraud fugitive caught Man pleaded guilty to schemes in Maine

U.S. marshals on Tuesday arrested a fugitive convicted of bank fraud in Maine in the parking lot of a Salem, N.H., restaurant.

Steven Lawrence Morehouse, 69, of Methuen, Mass., pleaded guilty in November 2003 in U.S. District Court in Bangor to a one-count accusation relating to multiple charges of bank fraud. One scheme involved two Maine banks.

A warrant was issued for his arrest after he failed to appear for his sentencing in November 2004.

Morehouse is scheduled to be sentenced in federal court in Bangor on Dec. 19, his attorney, Bradford Macdonald of Bangor, said late Tuesday.

The Massachusetts man faces a maximum sentence of 30 years in prison and a $1 million fine.

Court documents show that over the past 23 years, Morehouse masterminded dozens of check-kiting schemes, obtaining nearly $400,000 from financial institutions and banks along the East Coast, according to a press release issued Tuesday by the U.S. Marshals Service in New Hampshire.

When he was arrested Tuesday, Morehouse was carrying identification and business paraphernalia in the name of Morris Simons, as a consultant for United Consulting Co. of Methuen, Mass., according to the press release. The firm is believed to be fictitious.

“Steven Morehouse’s apprehension shows what can result when the U.S. marshals work with state, county, and local law enforcement to track known fugitives,” Deputy U.S. Marshal Paul Schmieder said Tuesday. “In Morehouse’s case, as evidenced by the business card and other false IDs we found on him, our fear is, of course, that there are more victims who haven’t come forward yet.”

Assistant U.S. Attorney Gail Malone in Maine said Tuesday that her office is considering whether Morehouse will face additional charges.

In March 2002, Morehouse opened an account at the First National Bank of Damariscotta under the fictitious business name of Harbor Antiques, according to court documents. After opening the first account, he opened a second account with Bar Harbor Banking and Trust in Ellsworth under the fictitious business name of Mount Desert Business Interiors.

During his visit to the Ellsworth bank, one of the tellers recognized Morehouse from a fraud perpetrated against the bank 10 years earlier, according to the press statement.

After Morehouse left the bank, the teller notified the Ellsworth Police Department and an investigation was begun.

Morehouse was arrested after trying to retrieve mail from an Ellsworth post office box he had established under one of the phony business names, the press release stated.

In the check-kiting schemes, Morehouse would travel from his New Hampshire home to small towns between North Carolina and Maine. After arriving in town, he would obtain a voice mail or answering machine account using a fictitious name.

Morehouse then would place a classified advertisement in the local newspaper, listing job opportunities for a nonexistent business. The purpose was to get personal information including name, driver’s license number, Social Security number and date of birth from applicants.

He then would use the information to open a business checking account at a local bank. He would repeat the process in a second, and sometimes third, small town, usually in the same state.

Once the checking accounts were established, Morehouse would deposit checks from each account into the other, taking advantage of the delay in the check clearing process to build up apparent high balances in each account.

He then would make a large cash withdrawal from one or more of the accounts, leaving the banks with a considerable loss.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.