Milwaukee man facing eight felonies in alleged months-long 'check washing' operation

A Milwaukee man is facing multiple felony charges of fraud and money laundering after allegedly stealing mail from mailboxes and forging checks in Milwaukee, West Allis, and Wauwatosa.

It’s alleged Braxton Clarke, 27, attempted about $315,000 in fraudulent transactions, according to a criminal complaint filed Tuesday in Milwaukee County Circuit Court. Of that amount, police say Clarke was successful in depositing around $287,000.

An arrest warrant for Clarke was issued Wednesday, according to online court records.

Clarke is facing eight felony counts, per the complaint. Those charges include:

• Conspiracy to commit forgery
• Conspiracy to commit theft of movable property (greater than $100,000)
• Conspiracy to commit unauthorized use of personal identifying information or documents
• Unauthorized use of personal identifying information or documents
• Conspiracy to commit money laundering
• Conspiracy to commit fraud against financial institution (over $100,000)
• Conspiracy to commit wire fraud against a financial institution
• Bail jumping

If convicted on all counts, Clarke could face up to $150,000 in fines and/or up to 70 years in prison.

Several offenses are being charged a single time as conspiracies, according to the complaint. The state reserved the right to issue each fraudulent transaction that occurred.

According to the criminal complaint:

Police say Clarke was involved in a “check washing” scheme from May 2024 through October 2024 where he stole mail from United States Postal Service blue drop boxes. From the mail he obtained checks and altered the "pay to" and "amount" fields to benefit himself and others.

The investigation indicated the checks were frequently deposited into multiple different accounts which often were newly created and had little to no transaction history. Soon after the deposit, the fraudulent funds were withdrawn, police said.

“Clarke engaged in a broad scheme to defraud individuals and financial institutions by stealing and altering checks,” the complaint said.

Multiple financial institutions were impacted, including PNC Bank, Fidelity Investments, JP Morgan Chase Bank, One United Bank, and US Bank.

Multiple reports of forged checks kick off an investigation

West Allis police began receiving complaints about mail theft and forgery in July 2024. Reports indicated multiple people mailed checks between May and October that were forged and made payable to a different name.

Clarke was suspected because many of the fraudulent checks were altered to be payable to him. Other names were used for some of the deposits.

Law enforcement reviewed surveillance footage of USPS drop boxes and later identified Clarke as the one who accessed multiple mailboxes on different dates.

Authorities listed the following USPS drop boxes as where checks were removed, “washed,” and deposited to accounts linked to Clarke:

• 1655 North Mayfair Road in Wauwatosa
• 7440 West Greenfield Avenue in West Allis
• North 64th Street and West Bluemound Road in Wauwatosa
• South 75th Street and West Greenfield Avenue in West Allis
• 345 West St. Paul Avenue in Milwaukee

In one instance at 11 p.m. on July 14, 2024, around 7440 W. Greenfield Ave., a male can be observed squatting near a mailbox “in a manner consistent with someone opening the mail door to remove items,” per the complaint. He then stands up and walks away.

That same day, an individual had placed a check in the drop box for $411.82. That check was later deposited to an account under the name Braxton Clarke and was altered to the amount of $4,800.12.

Another incident, at 10:56 p.m. Sept. 1, occurred at a Milwaukee County Transit System bus stop at South 74^th Street and West Greenfield Avenue. A male got off the bus and was seen crouched by a nearby mailbox minutes later.

Surveillance cameras followed the man until he boarded another MCTS bus. Video from inside the bus confirmed the same man was sitting on board pulling envelopes out of his backpack, opening them, and placing the contents in his pockets.

The male had scanned his MCTS app for both rides and MCTS security identified the account with an email that belonged to Clarke.

Authorities gather more evidence through search of apartment

Police were also able to identify Clarke through other means, including evidence recovered during a search of his residence.

Police executed a search warrant on Clarke’s apartment on Oct. 2. He was taken into custody and he was found to be in possession of two checks later confirmed to be written to other parties. He also had two phones which included photographs of himself as well as photos of post offices across Milwaukee County, checks, and bank account login information.

Detectives found three more checks in the apartment which they determined to be “washed.” They also found a backpack consistent with the one worn by the male in the surveillance videos. Inside were Wisconsin payment vouchers and estimated income tax vouchers for multiple people.

Clarke worked with others, police say

Officials say Clarke combined with others in a wide-scale mail theft and check washing scheme. The complaint lists six others for whom Clarke had financial information.

Police said Clarke had the financial account login information on his phone for multiple parties. Law enforcement believes Clarke was coordinating with others to distribute the checks.

Police also obtained a transcript of a text conversation between Clarke and an individual in Georgia in which the two discuss several investment banks and committing fraud.

Similar alleged activity in the past, complaint states

During all of these incidents, Clarke was out on bail after being charged with felony forgery, the complaint states. He was released on June 6, 2023, under the condition he commit no new criminal offenses.

Additionally, in November 2023, Cudahy police conducted a traffic stop on Clarke and two others. Clarke was found to be in possession of marijuana along with “numerous pieces of mail that were not his," according to the complaint.

A black duffle bag was found in the Jeep with multiple pieces of mail from various addresses. Numerous checks issued by various people were found in the passenger side door storage compartment.

Contact Erik S. Hanley aterik.hanley@jrn.com. Like his Facebook page,The Redheadliner, and follow him on X@Redheadliner.