Ishpeming woman charged with check fraud

  Ishpeming, MI – An Ishpeming woman who wrote bad checks for millions of dollars is facing federal charges for check fraud. According to WLUC-TV, Brooke Vernier, who is also known as Brooke Ferns, is accused of writing the bad checks in 2012 for a total of $145 million. she faces one count of ‘conspiracy to defraud financial institutions.’ According to federal officials, Vernier used a ‘circular check kiting’ scheme to artificially inflate the balances of seven accounts at three U.P. financial instutions… TruNorth Federal Credit Union… the Peninsula Bank… and the River Valley Bank. In essence, she made it look like there was more money in the accounts than there actually was. Vernier faces up to 30 years in prison or a fine of up to $1-million.