Fired by father, Plantation man forges 89 checks from family business accounts

PLANTATION, Fla. – A South Florida man is accused of forging 89 checks from his family's business after he was fired by his father for being lazy.

Kevin George Cook, 32, of Plantation was arrested Thursday on charges of forgery, grand theft and grand theft attempt.

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Cook's father, Kevin Charles Cook, reported the checks were fraudulently written by his son, who had previously worked as the Operations Manager for 1075 Sunrise Corp, the family business that owns and runs nine gas stations.

Cook was fired by his father in Oct. 2016 for "poor work ethics and lack of drive."

The forged checks were from the Bank of America account tied to the family business. Cook's father says while his son used to have signing authority to the company's 10 business accounts, that power was taken away when his employment was terminated and the signatures on the forged checks were not his.

After an investigation, it was found that between Jan. 23, 2017 to May 25, 2018, 89 checks from three separate business accounts were forged and signed "Kevin Cook."The younger Cook deposited all 89 checks into a SunTrust bank account via mobile app with a phone number registered through Kevin George Cook.

When informed of the forgeries on May 30, Bank of America canceled all checks related to the accounts, according to the police report. However, as he was unaware the accounts were closed, Kevin George Cook attempted to deposit nine more checks for a total of $8,997 into his SunTrust account.

After his arrest, the younger Cook admitted to writing the checks with his father's name and depositing them to his own account to pay for his living expenses.