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Police make third arrest in ongoing Navy fraud investigation

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Georgia police said Wednesday that a third person, 40-year-old Curtis Davis, had been arrested as part of an ongoing investigation into an $800,000 fraud involving a former Navy Federal Credit Union employee. The investigation also involves Navy Federal accounts belonging to a street gang member and a dead man.

“This portion of the investigation revealed that two checks totaling $122,225.98 were deposited into the NFCU account of Christopher Upshaw, who is currently incarcerated in a federal prison,” the Columbus Police Department (CPD) said in a prepared statement. “Surveillance footage captured former NFCU employee Steven Verrett depositing both checks – once with Davis as the check. The other check was deposited while Verrett used innocent customers as a front based on video surveillance.”

Davis was charged with forgery and malicious theft.

Curtis Davis. Photo credit: Columbus Police Department ^ “Curtis Davis”.
Credit/Columbus Police Department

In May, CPD investigators arrested Verrett, who worked as a member services representative at a Navy Federal branch in Columbus. He was initially charged with 15 counts of forgery, identity fraud, theft and computer crimes. In June, Verrett was also charged with 14 additional counts of theft, forgery and identity fraud, according to CPD.

He allegedly used member accounts as a front to cash fake checks and took out fraudulent auto loans, which he then passed on to himself and several other co-conspirators.

According to CPD, the first five checks reported stolen from the U.S. Mail were valued at more than $800,000.

Upshaw is a member of the criminal street gang Zohannon and was sentenced in April to more than 11 years in a federal prison for injuring a federal officer as Upshaw attempted to escape arrest during an armed drug trafficking investigation, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Macon. When the $122,225 checks were deposited into Upshaw’s federal Navy account, he was in federal custody, according to CPD.

Police investigators also reported that funds were withdrawn from Upshaw’s Navy Federal account via cashier’s checks, ATM withdrawals and over-the-counter cash withdrawals.

“Davis was observed receiving cash from Verrett on multiple occasions,” CPD said. “In addition, bank records show that Davis deposited cash from one of the cashier’s checks drawn from Upshaw’s NFCU account into his own personal account.”

A second Navy Federal account, also part of the fraud investigation, belonged to 18-year-old Jermain Thirkied, who was killed in a shooting in November 2023. The incident remains under investigation.

“With the help of NFCU’s internal investigators, our investigators were able to identify at least eight NFCU accounts involved in fraudulent activity,” the CPD said. Navy Federal noticed the suspicious activity and immediately reported it to CPD, which began investigating in February.

According to his LinkedIn page, Verrett has worked at Navy Federal since 2017.

According to CPD, further arrests are expected.

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