No-bail bench warrant issued for man accused of check-kiting

OGDEN -- A no-bail bench warrant has been issued for accused check-kiter Brody Boyer after he failed to appear Tuesday for a court hearing.

Boyer, 32, and co-defendant Charles Brandon Barber, 31, were each due before 2nd District Judge Scott Hadley. Barber's sentencing on bad check and communications fraud charges continue to Jan. 12.

At the same time as Boyer's no-show for a status conference on the same charges, attorney John Cummings informed the judge he was withdrawing as Boyer's lawyer.

Boyer and Barber are accused in a scheme known as check-kiting, or "the float," in which checking accounts are opened with bad checks, then funds are withdrawn from the new accounts before the checks are found to be bogus.

In one instance, an account was opened for only one month, with a total of 11 checks deposited totaling $23,338.99, according to a court affidavit written by South Ogden Police financial crimes Detective Ryan Bailey.

Subsequently, withdrawals were quickly made from the account totaling $7,780.34, mostly from ATM machines not affiliated with the bank that held the account, according to the affidavit.

All 11 checks deposited to open the account were returned as drawn on insufficient funds, Bailey wrote.

Numerous local banks were used this way, according to the affidavit, including America First Credit Union and Wells Fargo.

Among the business names used in creating the accounts were Advanced Marketing & Consulting, Big Sky Consulting, Pro Fab LLC, Innovative Metal Works and American Equipment Exchange, according to the court documents.

Some were actually registered with the state Department of Commerce with articles of incorporation.

"Barber and Boyer would then deposit checks written by each other, from accounts they had previously opened under other business names, into the accounts and would withdraw the funds from the accounts before the checks could clear," Bailey wrote.

Advanced Marketing & Consulting, 930 E. Chambers, No. 2, in South Ogden, was an actual bricks-and-mortar office where Barber was attacked in October 2008 by three Los Angeles investors angered at losing $100,000 each invested with Advanced Marketing.

The altercation was recorded because Barber called 911 then hid his cell phone.

The three served short jail terms for assault.