Ridgeland couple charged in $10,000 fraud case

By LeAnn R. Ralph

MENOMONIE — A Ridgeland couple has been charged with defrauding a financial institution out of a little more than $10,000.

Shane L. Cutting, 45, and Laminda L. Hanson, 47, made initial appearances in Dunn County Circuit Court May 2.

Cutting is charged with two felony counts of identity theft and fraud against a financial institution exceeding $10,000 but less than $100,000.

Hanson is charged with one felony count of fraud against a financial institution exceeding $10,000 but less than $100,000.

Bail was set with a $500 signature bond for both Cutting and Hanson at the May 2 hearing.

According to the criminal complaint, on March 7, an individual contacted the Menomonie police department to say $11,000 had been fraudulently withdrawn from his Royal Credit Union accounts.

According to the alleged victim, referred to as BH in the criminal complaint, Cutting had called RCU March 3 and March 4 and had transferred $10,000 into Cutting’s account and $1,000 into Hanson’s account. The $10,000 was then transferred out of Cutting’s account into Hanson’s account, and Hanson went to the bank and withdrew the $10,000 on March 3. RCU reversed the money transfer on the $1,000 put into Hanson’s account on March 4, according to the complaint.

Construction contract

The individual who said $10,000 had been fraudulently withdrawn from his bank account told investigators the money was his portion of a construction contract, and he had waited until the end to take his payment.

The individual said he had been awarded a contract in July of 2016 through the Chippewa Valley Housing Authority. During the project, several checks had been issued to pay for materials, wages and subcontractors. He had deposited $10,000 into his savings account and $2,000 into his checking account on March 1, according to the complaint.

When the man went to the Holiday Gas Station in Menomonie to make a purchase on March 6 with his debit card, the card was declined due to insufficient funds. He then used the ATM machine to check his balance and learned both his savings account and his checking account had been depleted.

The man called RCU and was informed two transactions had taken place to move money out of his account, that $10,000 had been deposited into Cutting’s account, and $1,000 had been moved out of his checking account and into Hanson’s RCU account, the complaint states.

The individual making the complaint said he had been living with Cutting and Hanson, so they would have had access to information pertaining to his bank account along with his social security number. According to the individual, Cutting had been working for him and received money for wages and materials. In October of 2016, the man had signed two checks payable to his construction company and asked Cutting to deposit the checks. Cutting used an application on his cellular telephone. The money was intended to pay for wages and materials. The man said he was not sure which account Cutting used.

The man also told investigators Cutting was receiving Social Security disability benefits and was not supposed to be working. Cutting was working for the man’s construction company and was receiving money for wages left over from the checks he had deposited after he had purchased construction materials. The man said he did not have a breakdown of how much money was being spent on materials and how much was paid to Cutting. There was no written agreement with Cutting on how much he would be paid because Cutting was not claiming the money as income, according to the complaint.

The man said he was not at all concerned about the first several checks because he agreed the money Cutting had deposited was with his knowledge and permission.

The man had received a check from CVHA in the amount of $12,439.53 on March 1 and had put $10,000 into his savings account, $2,000 in his checking account and had received $439.53 in cash.

Telephone number

The complaint goes on to say RCU Member Services had received a telephone call on March 3 from a number that turned out to be Cutting’s telephone number. The caller claimed to be BH and provided the proper personal information and transferred $10,000 from BH’s account to Cutting’s account and then about a half hour later, called back and transferred the $10,000 from Cutting’s account to Hanson’s account. About a half hour after that, Hanson went to the RCU office in Rice Lake and withdrew $10,000 in cash from her account.

The next day, March 4, the RCU Member Service Center received another phone call from Cutting’s telephone number requesting $1,000 be transferred from BH’s account to Hanson’s account, according to the complaint.

The individual who lost the money from his account went to RCU on March 7 and filled out an Affidavit of Fraud stating he had not made the telephone transfers on March 3 and March 4, and the transfers had not been authorized. After the affidavit was filed, RCU reversed the transfer of $1,000 and placed the money back into BH’s account. Hanson never called to find out why the money was taken out of her account, according to information provided by the bank.

Meetings

Investigators from the Menomonie police department set up several meetings with Cutting, or attempted to set up several meetings, but Cutting did not show up.

RCU reversed the transfer of money and put $10,000 back into BH’s account on April 3. After the reversal, Cutting’s account had a negative balance of $8,346.64. Cutting called RCU demanding the money be returned, said it belonged to him and that BH had authorized it to be transferred to him.

When investigators spoke with Cutting on April 4, Cutting said he was going to call the sheriff’s department to report his money had been stolen. Cutting repeatedly told investigators the bank had committed a federal offense and had no right to transfer money out of his account without talking to him first, according to the complaint.

Cutting also showed up at the RCU location in Rice Lake, causing the tellers to be concerned because he was yelling and demanding his money back. Cutting reportedly told the tellers that he is on Social Security disability and has to work several side jobs to support his family.

Because Cutting is receiving social security benefits, bank officials refunded the money to Cutting’s account since Social Security disability benefits had been removed from his account when the bank performed the original reversal. Bank officials indicated they did not want Cutting’s benefits affected, according to the complaint.

Cutting told investigators “everybody knew it was his money, and he had people that could vouch that the money did not belong to BH.” The investigator explained to Cutting he had not yet come to talk with her and had kept putting it off for three weeks by not returning telephone calls or following through with times he had told the investigator he would be there, the complaint states.

According to the complaint, RCU has credited the $10,000 to BH’s account, has kept the $10,000 in Cutting’s account so as not to interfere with Cutting’s benefits, and RCU is currently at a loss of $10,000.

As of the date of the complaint, April 28, Hanson had not yet contacted RCU to inquire about the $1,000 being transferred out of her account after it had been credited to her account.