Macon Woman Accused of Altering $6,000 IRS Check to Nearly $26,000, Charged with Fraud

Macon Woman Accused of Altering ,000 IRS Check to Nearly ,000, Charged with Fraud — Pamela Denise Mitchell

MACON, Ga. – A 50-year-old Macon woman has been arrested months after investigators say a $6,000 check mailed to the Internal Revenue Service was stolen, altered and deposited for nearly $26,000.

Pamela Denise Mitchell was arrested Sept. 16 and booked into the Bibb County Jail on charges of first-degree forgery, felony theft by taking, deposit account fraud and computer theft. Her bond was set at $33,000.

The investigation began in April after a man contacted the Bibb County Sheriff’s Office to report that a check he mailed had been altered.

According to the Sheriff’s Office investigation, the man was the executor of an account and wrote a $6,000 check to the IRS on March 29. He placed the check in an envelope addressed to the IRS and deposited it in the drive-thru mail drop at the U.S. Post Office at 451 College St. in Macon.

On April 3, MML Investor Services, the financial adviser for the estate, notified him that a check for $25,812 had been deposited by an unknown person.

Investigators said the original check had been “washed,” a method in which information written on a check is chemically removed or altered. The check was then made payable to Pamela Mitchell for $25,812, according to the investigation.

MML Investor Services stopped payment before the transaction could be completed.

The victim also reported the incident to the U.S. Postal Inspection Service because the check had been placed in a Postal Service collection box. He later obtained a copy of the altered check and provided it as evidence of the suspected fraud.

Bibb County Sheriff’s Deputy P.F. Smith investigated the case. A warrant charging Mitchell with first-degree forgery was issued July 31.

Mitchell was taken into custody Sept. 16, more than six weeks after the warrant was issued. She was also charged with felony theft by taking, deposit account fraud and computer theft.

The charges are accusations, and Mitchell is presumed innocent unless proven guilty in court.