Westport man accused of creating $35,000 in fraudulent checks

A local man is accused of fraudulently withdrawing funds from a victim through checks.

According to Deputy Chief of Police Robert Rebello, on Friday, the Westport Police Detective Unit concluded a two-month long investigation with the arrest of Timothy Croke of Cornell Road, Westport.

Beginning in June of this year, Croke began passing fraudulent checks at Santander Bank in Westport. Initially, Croke created a fraudulent check with his name and address on it and made the check out for $9,500. The money was withdrawn from the victim’s bank account and presented as cash to Croke. Westport Detectives were able to obtain a copy of the fraudulent check from the victim.

Croke attempted to pass a second fraudulent check, made out to himself in the amount of $25,500. By this time the bank had placed a fraud alert on Croke’s account. The money from this attempted fraudulent transaction was not transferred to Croke despite his objections. These interactions were captured on surveillance video at the bank and shared with Westport Police Detectives.

Based on the investigation, Croke was charged with two counts of Larceny Over $1200, two counts of Uttering False Check, two Counts of Forgery and one count of Larceny Over $1200 by Single Scheme.