White Plains Man Charged with Stealing, Cashing $22K in Checks from Business

John Stewart, 47, of White Plains, was arraigned on a 10 count indictment Tuesday for allegedly stealing $21,985 from Q & A Reporting Services in White Plains.

Stewart was arraigned on one count of third-degree grand larceny, a class D felony; eight counts of criminal possession of a forged instrument, a class D felony; and one count of first-degree scheme to defraud, a class E felony, according to Westchester County District Attorney Janet DiFiore.

Authorities said Stewart cashed eight business checks stolen from Q&A Reporting Services. They were cashed at The Check Cashing Place, located in Elmsford, between Nov. 21, 2012 and May 7.

White Plains Police found out on May 9, when the business alerted them of the incident.

On May 30, Elmsford police received a report of a man trying to cash another stolen check at The Check Cashing Place. Detectives were eventually able to use that information to track down Stewart and an accomplice, Kenneth Pegram, 45, of Elmsford.

Pegram eventually pled guilty to grand larceny on Oct. 28, but authorities said Stewart and Pegram had help from additional suspects who are still at large. In all, 34 checks were stolen and cashed as a result of the scheme.

Stewart’s next court date is scheduled Feb. 6. He faces a maximum sentence of seven years in state prison. Assistant District Attorney Steven Vandervelden, Chief of the Organized Crime and Criminal Enterprise Bureau is prosecuting the case.