🧾 The Gutter Report: Staten Island’s Gang-Linked Check-Washing Indictment
How an alleged financial conspiracy, old beefs, and courtroom records collided
🧠 What Authorities Say Happened
According to prosecutors and reporting by Advance/SILive, eleven individuals were arrested in connection with what officials describe as a gang-linked check-washing and financial fraud conspiracy operating across Staten Island throughout 2023 and 2024.
The investigation, led by the Staten Island District Attorney’s Office alongside the NYPD Narcotics Major Case Team, alleges the group attempted to steal more than $500,000 from over a dozen financial institutions by altering stolen checks and rapidly withdrawing funds before banks could flag the transactions.
Authorities allege the scheme was tied to members and associates of the OS (Original Stackboys) and 400 crews — two groups long referenced in Staten Island criminal cases, sometimes at odds, sometimes operating in parallel — per Advance/SILive archival reporting.
🕊️ Prince “Wuda” Edmonds, whose 2020 killing continues to loom over the legal backdrop of this case
👥 The Defendants Named in Court
Court records state that two defendants’ names were redacted for reasons not publicly disclosed.
The nine defendants publicly named are:
Elijah McCall, 32, aka Eli, of Concord
Egwone Forbes, 27, aka QB, of Concord
Ransford Agyeman-Budu, aka Rdot, of New Brighton
John Meade, 23, aka Christ Bot, of Mariners Harbor
Quintrell Villegas, 20, aka QPop, of New Brighton
Nacerima Bannister, 21, of New Brighton
Jamiel Ross, 39, with addresses in New Brighton and West Brighton
Ronald Crooks, 30, of New Brighton
Veronica Chemoundt, 21, of New Brighton
📌 Two additional defendants remain unnamed due to court-ordered redactions, as explicitly stated in the indictment.
All defendants pleaded not guilty during arraignment in Staten Island Supreme Court, St. George, before Justice Alexander B. Jeong, according to Advance/SILive court coverage.
🧩 How the Scheme Allegedly Worked
Prosecutors describe a multi-faceted operation involving two distinct but connected networks.
According to the indictment:
Certain defendants allegedly obtained stolen or forged checks, including through mail theft and online channels
Recruiters then persuaded others to open bank accounts in their own names
Checks — often worth thousands or tens of thousands of dollars — were deposited via mobile banking apps
Funds were withdrawn rapidly before banks could detect and reverse the fraud
Court documents identify McCall, Forbes, Agyeman-Budu, and Meade as alleged recruiters in the operation.
In one cited incident, investigators say a defendant posted a photo of a bank card on Instagram, then defrauded that same bank hours later, according to NYPD records referenced in the indictment.
🏦 NYPD activity outside a Westervelt Avenue deli, a location repeatedly referenced in past OS–400 violence
💬 What Prosecutors Introduced — And What They Didn’t
During the announcement of the arrests, District Attorney Michael E. McMahon described the defendants as funding “one of the most violent crime outfits on Staten Island,” a statement echoed by NYPD Commissioner Jessica S. Tisch, according to official press statements reported by Advance/SILive.
However, one major element circulating publicly was not introduced by prosecutors as evidence in this indictment.
🎙️ The Godkhaliq Daugherty Recordings
Multiple individuals present in Staten Island Supreme Court later reported hearing recordings in which Godkhaliq Daugherty — previously convicted in connection with a Mariners Harbor homicide — is heard speaking directly with the District Attorney in open court.
Important distinction:
These recordings were not formally introduced as evidence in this indictment
They were not recorded by law enforcement
Their circulation exists outside the official evidentiary record
Daugherty previously pleaded guilty in the killing of Prince “Wuda” Edmonds, as documented in Advance/SILive homicide coverage.
⚖️ District Attorney Michael E. McMahon addressing the press following the arrests
👁️ The Witness Nobody Likes to Talk About
What is often glossed over in public conversations about this case is that there was a surviving witness inside the vehicle at the time of the shooting.
According to court records and reporting by Advance/SILive, that witness identified Godkhaliq Daugherty as the shooter — a development that proved pivotal in the case.
That identification was a key factor that led to Daugherty’s arrest months later and ultimately to his guilty plea.
The witness — known publicly as KG — was with the victim at the time of the shooting and cooperated with authorities during the investigation. While the role of cooperating witnesses is often controversial in street narratives, this identification is documented in official case records and cannot be dismissed when laying out the full factual timeline.
This cooperation was not speculative, not rumor, and not introduced through social media — it is referenced directly in contemporaneous reporting and court documentation.
Whether people like it or not, that identification changed the trajectory of the case.
🔫 The Violence That Still Hangs Over It
The indictment arrives years after the 2020 daylight killing of Prince “Wuda” Edmonds, a figure widely described as central to the OS crew.
That same period saw:
A 400 crew member killed inside a deli, captured on surveillance footage
Escalating retaliation tied to long-running disputes between factions
According to Advance/SILive archival reporting, OS and 400 have alternated over the years between open conflict and coordinated criminal activity, with drug trafficking, fraud, and robberies repeatedly cited.
🚨 A memorial display honoring Prince “Wuda” Edmonds, reflecting the loss that still shadows the case
🧠 Final Word
On paper, this is a financial fraud indictment.
On the ground, it sits atop years of retaliation, cooperation, silence, and sudden transparency — some of it documented cleanly in court records, some of it exposed in moments people weren’t supposed to record.
What happens next won’t be decided by Instagram clips or rumors.
It will be decided by bank records, text messages, witness testimony — and what ultimately makes it onto the official record.
Not for clicks — for clarity.
— Elliott Carterr, LFTG Radio
📱 TikTok: @elliott_carterr
📺 YouTube: @lftgradio
🌐 Website: LFTGRadio.com
