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It was a slick trick, all right. Michael Miller and Kevin Zaharte had quite a scam going until they got nailed.
Banks and merchants in at least seven states were hit by the pair of con artists. Miller and Zaharte shopped – and shopped and shopped some more – as they passed through California, Illinois, Tennessee, Wisconsin, Arizona, Oklahoma and Kansas – but all of their purchases were made with bad checks.
Authorities believe the scam began in Illinois. The two men first obtained new Illinois driver’s licenses; then they proceeded to open checking accounts at banks in Milwaukee, Waukegan and Zion. Around Christmas time, Zaharte used a bad check to make a purchase at a Radio Shack in Libertyville. Some time later, when Zaharte and Miller returned to the same store, the clerk recognized Zaharte and called the police. By the time police arrived, however, the men were gone. They had been alerted to the impending arrival of the police by a scanner they were examining at the store.
When detectives checked out the address listed on the checks, they found a mail-drop box, full of insufficient fund notifications. Follow-up investigation revealed the men had used mail-drop addresses in other locations, including Wichita, where local police were also investigating the men’s activities.
The suspects did not maintain a real address; instead, they set up camp site residences at campgrounds around the country. They would “work” an area for a while, then move on to newer and greener pastures. In each new state, they would start over, obtaining local identification and opening checking accounts.
Vernon Hills detectives issued warrants for both Miller and Zaharte. Then one day one of the warrants paid off when Miller was pulled over in Mississippi for a traffic violation.
Zaharte was at the men’s current abode, a campground in Memphis. After a call from Miller, Zaharte agreed to turn himself over to Tennessee authorities. In the next few days, police recovered a trailerful of goods believed to be the fruits of the cross-country crime spree. It was a $50,000 cache of CD players, computers, guns, expensive clothes and more. Charges have been filed and the two men are awaiting trial. The banks are safe from Miller and Zaharte – for the moment.
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