At $75 a Pop, No Wonder...

HALIFAX - A local vehicle dealership was bilked out of $20,000 over a five-month period in a check altering scheme, according to the Halifax County Sheriff's Office.

Three people were charged Friday with a total of 20 counts of obtaining property by false pretense, Detective Bobby Martin said this morning.

Martin said the crimes were committed against Rheasville Truck and Auto Sales. The three suspects were working for the company doing repossessions.

The three - Stevie Pitt, Shreeta Robinson and Michelle Pitt all of Roanoke Rapids - received checks for their work but once the checks were received they were altered and cashed for several hundred dollars more than they were written for.

For instance, if a check was written for $75, an additional number would be written in front of the first number. The checks were handwritten.

Martin said the fraud began in August and continued until the first of the year when the company discovered problems in bookkeeping and began looking for discrepancies.

Stevie Pitt was charged with 16 counts and jailed on $15,000 bond, Robinson was charged with three counts and received a $5,000 bond and Michelle Pitts was charged with one count and jailed on $1,000 bond.

The three of them all have May 23 court dates.