South Carolina man arrested for trying to cash stolen check, was allegedly working for large-scale fraud ring

Staff report

GAINESVILLE, Fla. – Sherwin Lacsina Zarraga, 44, of Manning, SC, was arrested yesterday and charged with attempted grand theft, engaging in a scheme to defraud, and criminal use of someone else’s identification documents after allegedly attempting to cash a check stolen from an Air Force veteran who lives in Virginia, using a fake driver’s license.

At about 3 p.m. yesterday, a Gainesville Police Department officer responded to Amscot (3654 SW Archer Road), where Zarraga allegedly tried to cash a U.S. Treasury check for $4,524.99 that was made out to a Virginia man; Zarraga allegedly presented a fake Virginia driver’s license with the victim’s name and address but a photo of Zarraga.

The teller reportedly realized that the driver’s license was invalid and called 911, provided a description of the man trying to cash the check, and said he was still inside the business.

When the officer arrived, Zarraga was reportedly still at the teller window, waiting for the check to be cashed, and she detained him.

The officer found a phone number for the victim’s wife and learned that her husband’s check was supposed to arrive in August and they had been trying to find out why it had not arrived; she said she assumed that the check had been stolen from her mailbox and said she did not recognize Zarraga.

Post Miranda, Zarraga reportedly said he had previously “worked” for a man who operated a fraud ring; he said he did not “work” for the man long because he subsequently found a job, but when he recently lost his job, he reached out to the man again. He said that within the past few weeks, he had done six “jobs” in which he cashed checks or withdrew money from victims’ bank accounts.

Zarraga reportedly said that for his first “job,” he was told to meet a man at a specific location; he was told that the man would get in his car and go with him to a bank or check-cashing facility and then wait in the car while Zarraga went inside to cash a check. He was ordered to leave his keys in the car and was told that if the police showed up, the man would leave with his car. When he returned to the car, he reportedly gave the fraudulent identification documents back to the man.

Zarraga reportedly said he cashed a check two days ago in Savannah but couldn’t remember which bank cashed the check or who it was made out to. He described another “job” in which he and a man went to a bank in Myrtle Beach and tried to cash a $3,500 check made out to a Boynton Beach man. He said he believed he had been unsuccessful, but the officer learned that the check had been cashed, and she reported that Zarraga had the victim’s driver’s license and Mastercard when he was arrested.

Zarraga reportedly said that he was told he would get 10-15% of the value of the check for yesterday’s “job” and had been given the check and driver’s license by a man he met in Jacksonville.

Zarraga reportedly had a third victim’s driver’s license and credit card at the time of his arrest, but the officer had been unable to contact the third victim at the time the report was written.

The officer reported that Zarraga’s car was stolen during the incident, “presumably when he saw [the] patrol car arrive at the location.”

Zarraga’s criminal history is currently unavailable; Judge Jonathan Ramsey set bail at $30,000.

Articles about arrests are based on reports from law enforcement agencies. The charges listed are taken from the arrest report and/or court records and are only accusations. All suspects are innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.