Florida Man Pleads Not Guilty to Bank Fraud After Allegedly Trying to Pass a Counterfeit Check for More Than Half a Million Dollars

On Nov. 13, a Florida man was arraigned for bank fraud and passing a counterfeit United States Treasury check containing information from a validly issued U.S. Treasury check.

Kennard C. Bouk III, age 56, pleaded not guilty to both counts. He was indicted on Sep. 20.

An indictment merely contains allegations, and every defendant is presumed innocent unless proven guilty.

If convicted on all counts, Bouk faces up to 50 years in prison with three years of supervised release and up to a $1.5 million fine. A federal district court judge will determine any sentence after considering the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.

This crime is being investigated by the U.S. Secret Service.

The grand jury charges allege that as part of the scheme, Bouk created a Wyoming LLC on Jan. 4, listing a Casper address.

On Jan. 9, Bouk allegedly opened a business bank account at Blue Federal Credit Union in Cheyenne in the name of the Wyoming LLC so he could deposit a counterfeit U.S. Treasury check in the amount of $560,625.04. The indictment document claims he fabricated business records to show that the LLC was a legitimate insurance company in Wyoming. As a result, he was able to obtain at least $27,000 in cash from the credit union. The payee on the check was to a similiar LLC, but it was a California insurance company.

A trial has been set for Feb. 22, 2024, before U.S. District Court Judge Alan B. Johnson.