On August 7, 2025, Mounds View police took a report of two incidents of check fraud occurring on August 5, 2025, and August 6, 2025. Police learned that a female, later identified as Nicole Marie Mclain, [DOB REDACTED], entered the American National Bank, [ADDRESS REDACTED], Mounds View, Ramsey County. She presented checks for cashing purportedly drawn on the account of Camphor Memorial United Methodist Church. On August 5, she cashed a check in the amount of $750. On August 6, she returned with a $2000 check.
The teller became suspicious and declined to cash the check. Mclain had provided her driver’s license for the $750 transaction, and she was the same person pictured on the ID card. She is also identifiable in surveillance images and has unique tattoos and facial features shown on the surveillance images. Employees at the church confirmed that the checks were forgeries, were very old, and should have been shredded years ago. They could not explain how McLain came into possession of the checks. McLain contacted the church by email and claimed that she had provided services to the church.
She was seeking to have them make good on the $2000 check. Investigation revealed that the church had no history with McLain, she had not provided any services to the church. An investigator was able to reach Mclain by telephone. She admitted that she had cashed the $750 check, and she attempted to cash the $2000 check. She said that a lady approached her in a Cub Foods parking lot in Minneapolis. The lady asked her to watch the Mermaid Bar overnight. She said she did so and received the $750 check.
She said she drove around the Mermaid lot all night. Then she met the woman to get the check. She said the lady hired her in advance for another event, a “holistic event,” and paid her $2000 in advance. She admitted that she gave the lady $400 of the $750 in cash that she received. She kept $300 for herself. She admitted that her account did not make a lot of logical sense. She said she was desperate for money.
