Authorities have charged two people in connection with alleged payroll fraud at a McDonald’s on West Trenton Avenue in Falls Township’s Morrisville section.
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Romual Marquis Augustin, 19, and Alterrah Razhon Brown, both of Falls Township, were charged after an investigation revealed forged and altered payroll records at the fast-food location, according to police.
The investigation began when the operator of the fast food restaurant noticed discrepancies in the payroll earlier this year when checks appeared to have been cashed before their official issue dates, police said.
The investigation found that 36 checks issued between May 26, 2023, and February 2, 2024, were altered to include watermarks—a security feature not used by the payroll company, police said.
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Authorities said that approximately half of the checks were issued directly to Augustin.
Some of the checks were legitimate and later modified to show higher payment amounts, police said.
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Other checks were made out to people unknown to the fast food restaurant operator, police said.
The fraudulent activity amounted to a total of $28,627.31 stolen from the business operator’s account, with a financial impact of $19,871.45 after accounting for some partially authorized funds, according to court documents.
Investigators said they issued search warrants to determine how the money flowed.
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Surveillance footage from ATMs in the area helped identify Augustin and Brown as the individuals depositing the checks, police said.
The defendants attempted to deposit additional fraudulent checks earlier this year, but their accounts were flagged for suspicious activity, police said.
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Augustin and Brown were both charged with theft, conspiracy to commit theft, attempted theft, forgery, conspiracy to commit forgery, and attempted forgery. Augustin is awaiting a preliminary hearing , and Brown had all charges held for trial by District Judge John Galloway. Both men were free on bail as of this week.
Editor’s Note: All individuals arrested or charged with a crime are presumed innocent until proven guilty. The story was compiled using information from police and public court documents.
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