Community involvement foils scam artists
Comet staff report

Two rural Carroll County brothers, with the same Monticello address, were incarcerated in the county jail April 17 following a fraud investigation. The crime involved an 80-yearold rural Monticello woman victim.

Michael Thomas Cunningham, 18, of 11542 N. US421, was jailed on a preliminary charge of fraud, a Class D felony.

His twin brother, Bryan Edmond Cunningham Jr., was incarcerated on an initial charge of attempted theft, also a Class D felony. Each bond was set at $5,000.

Carroll County Sheriff's Deputy Grant Davidson and Det. Kevin Hammond received information stating the two brothers were utilizing a bank debit card and checks belonging to the elderly victim without her knowledge.

The suspects also allegedly performed household jobs for the victim and charged her an exorbitant amount of money as payment for the work.

The suspects admitted to sheriff investigators they were involved in the crime, which defrauded approximately $7,800 from the victim over an eight-month period of time.

"Again, through information received from the community, we were able to successfully follow-up and complete this investigation which involved a senior citizen," sheriff Tony Burns said. "This is yet another positive example of the community and our office working hand-in-hand to fight crime."