2 Nigerians Charged For Stealing From Restaurant With Fraudulent Cheques; One Arrested

Abdulrahaman Rosenje is one of three men facing felony charges accused of using fraudulent checks to steal from a Columbus restaurant. Rosenje has been charged with 8 counts of felony forgery. .

Assistant District Attorney Troy Cross requested Rosenje be held on a cash bond given the defendant’s lack of ties to the county as well as the sophistication of the alleged offenses as well. .

Judge J. Andrew Voigt ordered Rosenje to be held on $2,000 cash bond, with his release conditioned on surrender of his passport within 24 hours of his release. .

The case began when the Columbus Police Department was contacted by the owner of the Columbus Jimmy John’s sandwich shop, who reported that an employee, Austin Gruss, 19, of Columbus, had, through mobile banking, deposited fraudulent checks into his account amounting to nearly $5,000. .

Additionally, the officer found that the recent spike in withdrawals was enough to require those deposits ahead of time. Gruss told the officer on Sept. 6 that he met “Jay,” who was identified as Jalaldeen Olorundare, 18, in the dorms of Upper Iowa University in Fayette, Iowa. .

Gruss told he officer he had suffered a football injury and dropped out of the school. Olorundare offered Gruss an arrangement in which money would be deposited into Gruss’ account for him to transfer to another account, minus $100, which would be enough to pay for gas to get Gruss home. .

Olorundare reportedly told officers on Sept. 14 that he had an arrangement with someone named “Doulie,” who would transfer money if provided account information. .

That person was Rosenje, who Olorundare claimed had been running the operation since March, police said. On Sept. 25, officers searched Rosenje’s home, finding several cellphones, a laptop, and a printer enabled for commercial check printing. .

In a safe, officers reported finding a replica pellet gun and 245 unprinted checks. Gruss is scheduled to appear in court for identical charges on Nov. 1, while Olorundare is due in court on the same 8 counts on Nov. 8.