A man from Delaware, who was wanted for forgery, was apprehended by a vigilant federal marshal last week. The marshal spotted the man at a bar on Sapphire Beach in St. Thomas, leading to his arrest on Thursday.
Matthew D. Adams, a resident of Dover, DE, was recently identified by an off-duty U.S. Marshall. The Marshall promptly informed the VIPD officers about Adams’ presence in the territory. Upon further investigation, local officials confirmed that there was an existing arrest warrant issued in Delaware for Adams. In September, he was charged with theft and forgery in his home state.
Adams allegedly embezzled more than $100,000 from the New Castle, Delaware branch of the American Federation of Station, County and Municipal Employees. As a former union member, Adams is accused of engaging in fraudulent activities by writing numerous counterfeit checks to himself. In order to execute this scheme, Adams forged the signature of a union board member.
From July 2021 to May 2024, it is reported that Adams engaged in a scheme where he wrote and cashed a total of 70 fraudulent checks. These checks had varying values, ranging from $700 to $3000, resulting in a grand total of $126,300. Delaware officials have alleged that the suspect deposited at least 38 of these checks into his TD Bank account.
After his arrest on Thursday, Adams was taken into custody by the V.I. Bureau of Corrections and appeared in court on Friday morning. He chose to waive extradition, and Magistrate Paula Norkaitis allowed Delaware officials 30 days to extradite Adams. Since no bond had been set by the State of Delaware, he was returned to the custody of the Bureau of Corrections. A review hearing has been scheduled for Friday, November 8.
