A 43-year-old Ocala woman was arrested on fraud and theft charges, nearly three and a half years after she allegedly used a fraudulent check to steal over $2,000 from a local convenience store.
On April 2, 2022, a Marion County Sheriff’s Office deputy met with the owner of the Quick King located at 7000 NE Jacksonville Road in Ocala. The owner provided a copy of the check, in the amount of $2,640, that was issued by a Texas-based company and made payable to a woman identified as Broderica Michelle Lajoie, according to the arrest report.
Lajoie allegedly handed the check to the owner on March 21, 2022, along with a copy of her Florida-issued driver’s license. The owner then cashed the check and handed $2,640 to Lajoie.
Later that month, the owner was notified by a bank representative that the account listed on the check in question had been closed prior to March 21, 2022. The bank representative further informed the owner that the $2,640 that had been provided to Lajoie would not be refunded.
On April 20, 2022, an MCSO corporal contacted the company that had issued the fraudulent check. The owner of that company told the corporal that “a scammer had somehow gathered [the company’s] banking information” and was using it to “create fake checks” that were then sold on the internet, according to the report.
The corporal noted in the report that over the previous two months, numerous law enforcement agencies had contacted the company in reference to fraudulent checks. The company’s owner informed MCSO that the account listed on the fraudulent check(s) had been closed in January of 2022.
During an ensuing investigation, MCSO determined that Lajoie was never employed by the company, which was located in Texas, and the company had never issued a check to her.
MCSO deputies were unable to make contact with Lajoie, and a warrant was issued for her arrest on April 22, 2022. She was eventually located on September 2, 2025, and she was placed under arrest and booked into Marion County Jail. Later that day, she was released after posting bond.
Lajoie is being charged with uttering a forged instrument and grand theft (over $750 but less than $5,000). A court date has not been scheduled yet, according to jail records.