Villa Rica Man with Alleged Ties to West Cobb Fraud Case Arrested

A Villa Rica man was one of two men arrested last weekend on charges of forgery in the first degree and financial transaction card fraud.

Charlie D. Gates in April 2010 allegedly gave his BB&T debit card and PIN to an unidentified man so that he could deposit a $6,900 counterfeit check into Gates' account, according to a Cobb County criminal warrant.

After the man deposited the check at the BB&T ATM at 2400 Dallas Hwy., Gates allegedly withdrew $6,000 in cash from his account, records show.

"Said check was returned by the State Employee Credit Union as a forged check," authorities wrote in the warrant. "No such check had ever been issued."

Gates, who was arrested Sunday, is being held in the Cobb County jail without bond, according to online jail records. A Stone Mountain man accused of participating in a similar scheme was arrested this weekend, too.