On January 15, 2026, officers received a report from the Minnesota Adult Abuse Reporting Center involving S. D., who resides in the City of Brooklyn Park, County of Hennepin, State of Minnesota. The report originated from an internal report at Wells Fargo related to suspected check fraud. The internal report determined that S. D. Had written multiple checks with a total value of more than $10,000 despite never having ordered checks for the account. Officers spoke with R. D., S. D.’s daughter, who provided bank statements and images of the fraudulent checks.
Each check was written out to an “Artez Mitchell” and signed by “Artez L Mitchell.” Neither R. D. Nor S. D. Know anyone with this name. Officers received additional information from Wells Fargo and determined that a total of 64 fraudulent checks had been written out to “Artez Mitchell.” The dates the checks were deposited was from approximately April 23, 2025, to approximately July 2, 2025, and the total value of the fraudulent checks was approximately $11,445.08. Officers also learned that S. D. Had an account with TopLine Federal Credit Union, and that 14 fraudulent checks had been written out to "Artez Mitchell" between July 6, 2025, and July 15, 2025, with a total value of approximately $3,650. Records showed that several of these checks were cashed or deposited by a customer named "Artez Mitchell." Officers were able to identify “Artez Mitchell” as Artez Lasalle Mitchell [DOB REDACTED] and known signatures belonging to Mitchell were consistent with those on the fraudulent checks.
Officers also determined that the signatures purportedly belonging to S. D. On the fraudulent checks were not consistent with S. D.’s actual signature.
