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Four checks totaling $6,000 were forged using checks issued by the New Jersey Turnpike Authority. The checks were deposited at a Wells Fargo bank branch also used by the Rev. Jeffrey Edwards, 63, that morning.
When Wells Fargo discovered the fake transactions, it shared ATM photos of Edwards with State Police, who posted the pictures on its Facebook page, according to Edwards's lawsuit. Those pictures were widely shared and were even seen by members of Edwards's congregation, he said.
A Wells Fargo security employee could not automatically link the bogus checks to Edwards's photo but offered to write the check numbers by hand on the images, according to the suit.
Edwards provided documentation to show that he had not deposited the forged checks but was arrested last year anyway, according to his lawsuit. The charges were dismissed in January for lack of evidence.
According to the lawsuit, the debit card used in the illegal transactions belonged to a woman unconnected to Edwards. She admitted to the State Police that she unwittingly took part in the scam by loaning her debit card to a man she knew only as "Cousin Swing."
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