3 Anchorage residents accused of mail fraud involving over 500 victims

Three Anchorage residents including a married couple are accused of creating a mail-theft ring with more than 500 victims over a year's time.

A federal grand jury in Anchorage last week indicted Amber Rose Hecker, Ronald Travis Hecker and Richard Kelly Hoglin on charges they stole checks from hundreds of people through the mail. Then, through theft and vehicle break-ins, they got the ID and bank cards they needed to cash the checks.

The stolen mail included financial records, Social Security cards, identification cards and credit cards, according to Chloe Martin, a spokeswoman for the U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of Alaska.

The Heckers are married, according to details from a separate Anchorage Police Department case.

They were arrested by officers in the parking lot of the DeBarr Road Fred Meyer store in early March after getting into a vehicle reported stolen, police said at the time. Ronald Hecker was jailed on burglary, theft and forgery warrants and charged with second-degree theft and criminal mischief.

Amber Hecker, who gave a false name initially, was found with other people's wallet and credit cards, police said. She was jailed on warrants and charges including second-degree theft and fraudulent use of a stolen access device.

It wasn't immediately clear how the couple knew Hoglin.

The trio began negotiating checks from the mail "that were falsely altered and forged" in April 2017 and continued through this month, according to a statement Friday from the U.S. attorney's office in Anchorage.

They possessed mail stolen from over 500 victims, including financial records, Social Security cards, identification cards and credit cards, federal prosecutors said.

They stole checks worth more than $18,000 from 10 people, according to the indictment.

The charges describe the scheme: Steal checks from the mail, then forge the recipient's name based on other stolen information like IDs and bank cards. So, say, a $1,000 stolen check stolen from one person would be deposited in the account of another victim. Then money would be immediately withdrawn from the second person's bank account.

The scheme involved numerous Alaska USA Federal Credit Union branches and one Credit Union 1 location, the indictment says.

Amber and Ronald Hecker were arraigned Friday afternoon.

The Anchorage Police Department and the U.S. Postal Inspection Service, along with the Anchorage Airport Police, conducted the investigation leading to the indictment in this case, according to the U.S. attorney's office.