HARRINGTON – Police say a counterfeit paycheck scheme that netted thieves more than $50,000 in Washington County is similar to and possibly connected with a Texas scam that has landed a dozen alleged illegal immigrants behind bars.

Authorities in Maine are considering whether there’s a link between the Houston case and three men arrested in Washington County last month and charged with visa fraud.

The Houston Chronicle reported Dec. 28 that a dozen people were facing charges of engaging in organized criminal activity or forgery in connection with the Houston counterfeit paycheck scheme. All were believed by Houston police to be illegal immigrants, according to the story.

In Maine, three alleged illegal immigrants were arrested Dec. 21 after they were detained by police and immigration officials during the local check fraud investigation. According to Maine State Police, someone used a paycheck from Worcester Wreath Co. in Harrington to make about 80 fake paychecks that were used to obtain approximately $53,000 in cash from businesses in Washington County around Nov. 30.

Lt. Jackie Theriault said Tuesday that state police were unsure whether the three men arrested Dec. 21 are involved in the counterfeit check scheme.

Marco Estrada-Sanchez, 24, of Mexico and Honduran residents Marvin Josue Garcia-Pineda, 22, and Erik Rolando Orellana-Mejia, 21, are facing visa fraud charges and are being held at Penobscot County Jail in Bangor. All three men had been or were working for Worcester Wreath at the time of their arrests and admitted to using falsified documents to get work, according to an affidavit filed in federal court in Bangor.

“We are unable to make that determination,” Theriault said about the possible involvement in the scam of the immigrants. Estrada-Sanchez was arrested at Worcester Wreath, while Garcia-Pineda and Orellana-Mejia were arrested after they were seen leaving Machias Savings Bank in Columbia Falls in a white minivan.

Theriault said the apparent operation is “almost identical” to the one uncovered by Houston police.

In that incident, the alleged criminal ring obtained paychecks from companies by having one or more of their members get jobs at those companies long enough to get paid, according to the Chronicle story. The check then was sent out-of-state and counterfeited, with the fake copies sent back to Texas, where they were cashed in the Austin, Dallas, Houston and San Antonio areas.

The scam, which targeted small grocery stores and check-cashing businesses, also is believed by police to have operated in Arizona and California, the Chronicle story indicated. Houston police seized Texas driver’s licenses and Social Security cards they found as part of their investigation and were trying to determine if the ring also was involved in identity theft, the story reported.

According to Theriault, most of the fake Worcester Wreath paychecks were cashed at Machias Savings Bank in Columbia Falls, while others were cashed at other western Washington County businesses. Fake IDs were presented at the bank when the checks were cashed, she said.

State police do not believe Washington County residents were involved in the alleged scheme, according to Theriault.

The national media attention Worcester Wreath has received for donating thousands of wreaths to Arlington National Cemetery each Christmas and the fact that it hires many people seasonally to help fill its Christmas orders may have drawn the attention of the counterfeiters, she said.

Theriault said the quality of the counterfeit checks was high.

“It was very difficult to tell the difference,” Theriault said. “We’re going to make contacts in Texas.”

btrotter@bangordailynews.net

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