ST. LOUIS – Two St. Louis-area men recruited people struggling with homelessness and drug addiction to carry out an elaborate fraud scheme involving stolen identities and high-value checks, some worth hundreds of thousands of dollars, according to newly filed charging documents.
On Friday the St. Louis Circuit Attorney’s Office charged Samuel Stewart, 26, and Royce Charles Leron Finger Jr., 22, each with one count of conspiracy to commit a Class A, B or C felony or unclassified felony in connection with the case.
A months-long investigation revealed an organized scheme that relied on recruiting vulnerable individuals, including homeless people and drug addicts, to open bank accounts under false identities while Stewart and Finger allegedly provided housing, food, money and drugs to maintain control of the individuals.
According to St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department probable cause statements, in September 2025, detectives received reports that Stewart and Finger obtained multiple United States Treasury checks with payee names of individuals not believed to be associated with them.
The checks were in large amounts, with at least one exceeding $882,000, according to the probable cause statements.
In October 2025, police arrested Stewart while he was reportedly escorting an individual to unfreeze a business account previously opened at Lindell Bank with a stolen identity. Stewart’s cell phone was seized, and a subsequent search warrant revealed an extensive number of documents, photos and data consistent with fraudulent activities.
On Friday, police conducted another search warrant at Stewart’s St. Louis apartment, which led to three fake U.S. Passport cards, three fake Citi Bank Master cards, one U.S. Treasury check valued around $25,000, two checkbooks from the American Bank of Freedom and a disc with software for a card writer and reader.
Police believe Stewart and Finger likely had access to large amounts of money, including cryptocurrency, and had the resources to obtain a fake identity for others, according to the probable cause statements.
Stewart and Finger have both been taken into custody and booked into jail without bond, per Missouri court records.