Green Bay man accused of issuing worthless checks for thousands of dollars across multiple months, officially charged

GREEN BAY, Wis. (WFRV) – A man from Green Bay was officially charged after allegedly issuing worthless checks over multiple months to several businesses.

According to a criminal complaint obtained by Local 5, 54-year-old Duane Williams is facing five charges related to multiple instances of allegedly issuing worthless checks. Back on May 6 around 12:45 p.m., an officer was sent to a furniture store in Green Bay for a report of fraud.

There was a report of a person passing bad checks. There was a picture of the man’s ID who was identified as Williams.

It was reported that Williams went into the store on April 30 and presented his ID and bought two items costing over $1,150. Williams reportedly paid with a check.

Williams then came back on May 2 and bought another item for $737.44. This time he also paid with a check. On May 3, Williams allegedly made another purchase for items costing a total of $1,347.24.

On May 5, it was learned that the checks bounced back, according to the complaint.

Months later, on July 17, an officer responded to a music store for a report of fraud. It was mentioned that a man wrote a bad check and bought a guitar, and then allegedly turned around and sold it to a nearby store.

The suspect in this incident was identified as Williams. Williams allegedly went to the store and bought an item and a case for over $800 and used a check.

Later that day, a different store called and said that Williams sold the item for $100. When the bank where the check came from was contacted, it was confirmed that the account was closed.

On July 31, an officer was sent to a different store for a report of fraud regarding a bad check. An item was bought for over $600 and was sold to Williams. The check was from the same bank as the previous incident and the account was confirmed to have been closed for a few years.

On August 2, authorities contacted Williams and he was placed under arrest. While searching Williams, a checkbook containing the same checks as the previous incidents were found in his pocket.

Williams is charged with the following:

Issuance of a Worthless Check, Repeater
- Felony
- Up to three and a half years in prison
Issuance of a Worthless Check, Repeater
- Misdemeanor
- Up to nine months in prison
Theft by Fraud, Repeater
- Misdemeanor
- Up to nine months in prison
Issuance of a Worthless Check, Repeater
- Misdemeanor
- Up to nine months in prison
Theft by Fraud – PTAC, as a Party to a Crime, Repeater
- Misdemeanor
- Up to nine months in prison