Shaver

Shaver

ELKINS — A Morgantown man is behind bars after allegedly cashing falsified checks at Randolph County banks.

Paul Andrew Shaver, 24, is charged with two felony counts of forging or uttering, and one felony count of uttering. He is incarcerated at Tygart Valley Regional Jail on a $20,000 cash or surety bond, set by Randolph County Chief Magistrate George M. “Mike” Riggleman.

According to the first of two criminal complaints filed in Randolph County Magistrate Court, on Jan. 3, Randolph County Sheriff’s Office Cpl. B.W. Cogar responded to a walk-in complaint.

The alleged victim said on Jan. 2, he visited Mountain Valley Bank in Parsons and was made aware of some suspicious activity on his business account.

Bank employees supplied him with three check numbers that were made out to Shaver. One of the checks was cashed at the Parsons branch while the other two checks were cashed at two of the Mountain Valley Bank branches in Randolph County, the complaint states.

The two checks cashed in Randolph County were in the amounts of $3,565.77 and $3,865.77.

In a second criminal complaint filed in Randolph County Magistrate Court, at approximately 4:11 p.m. on Jan. 9, Trooper 1st Class J.J. Cornelius of the West Virginia State Police received a forgery or alteration affidavit from the facilities and security manager for Citizens Bank of West Virginia.

The affidavit, signed by the owner of Grimes Enterprises III LLC, indicated checks were fraudulently cashed and contained a forged signature.

Copies of the fraudulent checks were attached to the affidavit depicting they were cashed at several locations operated by Citizens Bank of West Virginia in Pocahontas, Upshur and Randolph counties.

Cornelius observed one check that was cashed at the Beverly branch of Citizens Bank of West Virginia for $3,875.77.

The check contained the “forged signature” of the business owner and was made payable to Shaver, the complaint states.

In the endorsement section of the check, there was a signature that appears to be “Paul Shaver” and what appears to be a West Virginia identification number.

Cornelius ran the number through the West Virginia Department of Motor Vehicles and it came back as an identification number assigned to Paul Andrew Shaver of Morgantown. It included a photograph.

At approximately 8 a.m. Jan. 14, Cornelius received a copy of a typewritten statement authored by the owner of Grimes Enterprises.

In the statement, he said on Dec. 12, his company issued a check payable to Superior Industrial Laundries of Fairmont, in the amount of $194.52. The statement further indicates he spoke with an employee of Superior Laundry who told him someone had stolen mail from their company, manipulated checks and pulled money from several customer accounts, according to the complaint.

The business owner further stated information was copied from his business check then manipulated to create four checks that were made payable to Shaver. In total, Shaver took $19,743.08 from the business account, according to the man’s statement to police.

At approximately 3:45 p.m. Jan. 16, Cornelius obtained surveillance footage from Citizens Bank of West Virginia. Upon review of the video, it shows a man enter the Beverly branch of the bank at approximately 12:12 p.m. Jan. 5 to cash a check. The male in the surveillance footage matches the picture on Shaver’s West Virginia identification card, according to the complaint.

Shaver also has pending charges in Tucker, Pocahontas, Taylor, Marion, Harrison and Monongalia counties.