A West Virginia-based forgery ring used computer equipment to create bogus IDs and cash false payroll checks, federal investigators said in court filings last week.

Martin Green and Basil Smith allegedly led a "gang" of at least four people on road trips to Ohio, Kentucky and Tennessee, where they cashed fake checks at various banks and businesses, according to an affidavit by Secret Service Special Agent Thomas V. Sheppard.

Green and Smith created false identification documents, which were used by the others to pass counterfeit checks, also made by Green and Smith, Sheppard wrote. Green and Smith reportedly took a cut of the proceeds.

The ring first came to light after an employee at the Oak Hill Holiday Inn called the police in March 2006, saying two guests were behaving suspiciously, according to the affidavit. Although the room was under the name Lonnie J. Vanscoy, who used a West Virginia driver's license to register, Oak Hill police could find no record of that name in the state Division of Motor Vehicles database.

When officers went to the room, the guests identified themselves as Green and Smith, the affidavit states. Police found more than $1,100 in cash and a Lowe's payroll check for $496.42 payable to Lonnie J. Vanscoy on Smith, and $75 and a white jump drive (a portable electronic memory device) on Green, according to the filing.

When they searched the room, police found almost $2,400 in a small, black security box, as well as money orders, gift cards to Wal-Mart, Linens-N-Things and Kmart, and 18 Xanax pills, the affidavit states.

Green led police to a black 1997 Nissan parked behind the hotel and agreed to let them search it, according to the affidavit.

In the car, they found 22 National City Bank of Ashland checks in the name "Vanscoy Contracting and Design."

A West Virginia-based forgery ring used computer equipment to create bogus IDs and cash false payroll checks, federal investigators said in court filings last week.

Martin Green and Basil Smith allegedly led a "gang" of at least four people on road trips to Ohio, Kentucky and Tennessee, where they cashed fake checks at various banks and businesses, according to an affidavit by Secret Service Special Agent Thomas V. Sheppard.

Green and Smith created false identification documents, which were used by the others to pass counterfeit checks, also made by Green and Smith, Sheppard wrote. Green and Smith reportedly took a cut of the proceeds.

The ring first came to light after an employee at the Oak Hill Holiday Inn called the police in March 2006, saying two guests were behaving suspiciously, according to the affidavit. Although the room was under the name Lonnie J. Vanscoy, who used a West Virginia driver's license to register, Oak Hill police could find no record of that name in the state Division of Motor Vehicles database.

When officers went to the room, the guests identified themselves as Green and Smith, the affidavit states. Police found more than $1,100 in cash and a Lowe's payroll check for $496.42 payable to Lonnie J. Vanscoy on Smith, and $75 and a white jump drive (a portable electronic memory device) on Green, according to the filing.

When they searched the room, police found almost $2,400 in a small, black security box, as well as money orders, gift cards to Wal-Mart, Linens-N-Things and Kmart, and 18 Xanax pills, the affidavit states.

Green led police to a black 1997 Nissan parked behind the hotel and agreed to let them search it, according to the affidavit.

In the car, they found 22 National City Bank of Ashland checks in the name "Vanscoy Contracting and Design."

"When officers checked the routing number with National City Bank of Ashland, they learned that the account was fraudulent and did not exist," the affidavit reads.

Officers also discovered nine payroll-style checks labeled "Res-Care Health Service WV" totaling almost $9,000 payable to Timothy K. James, as well as six "Res-Care" checks totaling almost $6,000 payable to Lonnie J. Vanscoy with the same routing and account numbers as the Ashland bank checks, the affidavit states. There were also 11 check stubs for almost $12,000 on the same account.

The officers also found a copy of a software program that is commonly used to make checks, as well as two fake Ohio ID cards under the names Ronnie Bowen and Thomas A. Milstead Jr., and two fake West Virginia IDs in the names of Alexis Page Kennedy and Nathan Boling, the affidavit states.

When Secret Service investigators searched the jump drive, they found "a variety of counterfeit payroll and personal checks and false forgery documents, including driver's licenses, identification cards, and gift cards, along with various templates, business logos, Social Security numbers, and identities used to produce checks, ID cards, and credit and gift cards," the affidavit states.

The jump drive "also included instructions on how to approach and distract bank tellers when cashing counterfeit checks," according to the affidavit.

Last August, a cooperating individual contacted Sheppard and provided more information about the ring, including a laptop computer, a hard drive and three jump drives, the affidavit states. The affidavit was filed as part of a search warrant for the electronics.

U.S. Magistrate Mary E. Stanley approved the search warrant last year, and unsealed the paperwork last week.

To contact staff writer Andrew Clevenger, use e-mail or call 348-1723.