By Lorie Love
A Madison County grand jury has indicted a man who police say stole blank checks from mailboxes in three counties and then deposited them in unconnected victims’ accounts.
Bruce Kevin Hacker, 44, of East Bernstadt, was indicted Oct. 16 on four counts of theft of mail matter, three counts of second-degree possession of a forged instrument and seven counts of first-degree persistent felony offender.
Hacker was arrested in August after police connected him with a string of mail thefts in Madison, Rockcastle and Laurel counties.
Police said Hacker found mailboxes in the three counties which contained blank checks issued to postal customers through a credit card company.
“Basically, people will get these checks sent to them from Visa or Discover or some other credit agency and they are blank checks,” said Capt. Ken Clark of the Berea Police Department at the time of Hacker’s arrest. “They are in the cardholder’s name, but they can be made out to whomever.”
Hacker then would search for mailboxes that contained outgoing mail. Clark said Hacker would look for mailboxes with the flag up.
“That way, he knew that there might be a check going out where someone was paying a monthly bill and he could use that check to get someone’s name and account number,” Clark said.
Combining the two acts, Hacker then would allegedly write a blank credit card-issued check from one victim to another.
Once at the bank, Hacker would not just cash the illicit check, but use the account numbers to deposit a portion and return some in cash to himself, Clark said.
“People were having checks written from their credit accounts cashed into someone’s they didn’t know. Other people were turning up with money from they didn’t know where and the banks were left in the lurch financially when the checks were reported stolen,” Clark said.
Police eventually caught on to Hacker’s alleged scheme and were able to identify him using surveillance footage and vehicle descriptions from banks.
Several very clear shots of the suspect’s face were sent to the Kentucky Intelligence Fusion Center, a division of U.S. Homeland Security.
Once he was identified, he was arrested in Laurel County and brought to Madison County.
The indictment charges that between Aug. 1-14, Hacker took mail “consisting of a blank check, checks, and/or a credit card bill” from a residence in Madison County. The mail was sent by Capital One, the indictment reads.
Then, according to the indictment, on Aug. 13, Hacker stole letters and/or a package which had been mailed to Advance Imaging and Open MRI Inc. from their business mail receptacle, which was located at 201 Pauline Drive in Berea.
The same day, Hacker took a letter or package which had been mailed to Citi Financial Co. from the business mail receptacle also at 201 Pauline Drive in Berea, the indictment charges.
Between Aug. 10-14, according to the indictment, Hacker stole a letter and/or a check from the business mail receptacle of Sammy Lee. The items had been mailed by Diversified Anesthesia LLC and delivered to the receptacle at 208 Pauline Drive in Berea.
On Aug. 13, the indictment says, Hacker went to People’s Bank and Trust Company and passed a forged check in the amount of $4,200. The check was drawn on a Capital One credit card account and was deposited into the account of Diversified Anesthesia LLC.
At the same time, he passed a forged counter check in the amount of $1,200. The check was drawn on the account of Diversified Anesthesia LLC and had a forged signature, the indictment says.
The next day, Hacker allegedly passed a forged check in the amount of $4,400 at People’s Bank and Trust Company. The check was drawn on a Capital One credit card account.
Hacker deposited $3,500 of this check into a victim’s account and received back $900 in cash from the bank, according to the indictment.
Hacker has been convicted of at least two prior felony offenses within the past five years, according to the indictment. Because of those convictions, he was charged with seven counts of being a persistent felony offender.
If convicted, he could be sentenced with up to 20 years imprisonment.
Hacker is lodged in the Madison County Detention Center in lieu of a $25,000 cash bond.
An indictment is a formal accusation and does not establish guilt.
Lorie Love can be reached at llove@richmondregister.com or 624-6690.
