Four self-proclaimed Sovereign Citizens were arrested Thursday for writing and trying to cash counterfeit checks at Kissimmee Amscot stores.

Bull	Bruce
Darryl Causby	Drew Causby

Osceola County Sheriff's detectives arrested Darryl Causby, 50, of Orlando; Drew Causby, 23, of North Carolina; Christopher Bull, 34, of Kissimmee and Annette Bruce, 45, of Haines City, and charged them with forgery and uttering forged instrument. Bull was also charged with resisting arrest without violence.

According to police reports, the group began trying to cash the counterfeit checks in October and early November at the Amscot located at 3260 Vineland Road.

The investigation began after the Sheriff's Office received complaints of counterfeit checks circulating at recent businesses in the county. Detectives discovered these checks were linked to the suspects.

The suspects took turns writing checks to other members of the group or to themselves with “loan,” “bank draft” or “cable work” written on the memo line, according to the arrest warrants.

The check amounts ranged from $150 to $1,800 and the banking institution listed was the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago.

A representative of the bank confirmed to detectives the checks were fraudulent and stated the bank only conducts business with financial institutions, not individuals or individual account holders.

Detectives received consent to search the motel room where the suspects were staying, the Red Roof Inn located at 4970 Kyngs Heath Road in Kissimmee.

There, detectives took into evidence multiple computers, printers, scanners and other materials consistent with manufacturing counterfeit checks.

During the course of the investigation, the suspects identified themselves as sovereign citizens. They had in the room written materials regarding the Sovereign Citizen Movement.

Self-described sovereign citizens claim they are answerable only to common law and are not subject to any statutes or proceedings at the federal, states or municipal levels, or that they do not recognize U.S. currency and that they are "free of any legal constraints," according to the Sovereign Citizens Movement.

The Federal Bureau of Investigation considers sovereign citizens a growing domestic threat to the country’s counterterrorism efforts and classifies the group as anti-government extremists.

The investigation is ongoing with additional charges pending.