The Columbus Police Department recently arrested four men for their alleged involvement in a check cashing scam.

Columbus Police Chief Chris Beddingfield briefed Columbus Town Council during the town’s May 19 meeting.

The operation involved picking up homeless persons at shelters and paying them a portion of each fraudulent check they could cash at banks, according to Beddingfield. The men cashed fraudulent checks at banks in North and South Carolina, including in Columbus.

Charles Vaughn Collins, 29, of Atlanta, Ga. was charged with obtaining property by false pretense, conspiracy to obtain property by false pretense, forgery of instrument and identity theft.

Montavious Bernard Stills, 27, of Mableton, Ga. was charged with obtaining property by false pretense, conspiracy to obtain property by false pretense, forgery of instrument and identity theft.

Shyheim Samone Brown, 19, of Charlotte, was charged with obtaining property by false pretense, conspiracy to obtain property by false pretense and uttering forged instrument.

Omar Yusuf Lamont, 26, of Charlotte, was charged with obtaining property by false pretense and conspiracy to obtain property by false pretense.

Freddie Morrison, Jr., 32, of Charlotte was charged with obtaining property by false pretense and conspiracy to obtain property by false pretense.

Cleveland Bernard Sanders, 39, of Charleston, S.C., was charged with obtaining property by false pretense, conspiracy to obtain property by false pretense and uttering forged instruments, according to Columbus police records.

Beddingfield said Sgt. Scott Hamby invested countless hours into the investigation and discovered the identities of the men and then obtained arrest warrants.

Hamby was assisted by the Tryon Police Department and networked with federal agencies as well as law enforcement in North and South Carolina, according to Beddingfield. More charges and arrests are possible, he said.