A Chicago man suspected of defrauding area banks out more than $75,000 last fall is back in custody to face charges after allegedly skipping out on his bond in two counties.
Jarrien Christian Jones, 26, was charged in Racine County Circuit Court last October with two counts of fraud against a financial institution, one count of fraudulent use of a credit card and two counts of attempted fraudulent use of a credit card – all felonies.
According to the criminal complaint filed in the case, City of Burlington police received a tip from their counterparts in Lake Geneva that two men were in the area and suspected of requesting cash advances on fraudulent credit cards at BMO Harris Bank branches in the area.
An investigator followed up with the Burlington branch of BMO Harris Bank and discovered a man matching Jones’ description had requested a $5,000 cash advance on a Visa credit card. The man was given $3,000 at the bank, however, the employee who completed the transaction became suspicious as she watched the man – later identified as Jones – go to the adjacent Associated Bank office in Burlington.
Officials at that office had already been alerted to the fraud threat and declined a request from Jones for a $5,000 cash advance.
Investigators in Burlington confirmed Jones’ identity by matching him with surveillance photos from BMO Harris Bank after he was arrested by Walworth County authorities.
Jones was released on $20,000 cash bond last fall, but forfeited that amount after failing to appear for a scheduled court appearance last December in Racine County Court, according to court records.
Authorities in Walworth County – where Jones is also accused of defrauding banks out of thousands of dollars – had a similar experience with him, when he allegedly skipped out on $50,000 cash bond there.
He was arrested on a warrant out of Walworth County on May 17 and has been bound over for trial in that county on charges of theft and fraud, according to court records.
A judge there set cash bond at $100,000, but Jones refused to sign it, according to court records, and he was taken to the Walworth County Jail while the case is pending.
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