Accused con man says businesses, charities that he wrote bounced checks to will get their money

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — An accused con man said he's inherited millions of dollars, but is writing checks that bounce.
 
Action News first told you Thursday about 31-year-old Jerell Jason Smith, who's accused of conning local businesses and charities. It's a scheme police say was designed to impress his girlfriend.
 
Smith reached out to Action News to respond to the allegations.
 
"I guarantee everyone is going to get their money, including the City Rescue Mission," Smith said.
 
Smith is accused of writing a $10,000 bogus check to Jacksonville-based Kennetic Productions, and racking up an additional $7,700 in charges, after he hired crews to shoot video at City Rescue Mission in January. The self-proclaimed bishop, who refers to himself as Dr. Smith, pledged to donate $200,000 to the organization during a tour of the facility. The footage, he told the company, was to be use as part of his campaign for mayor of Memphis later this year. Within a week of that visit, he mailed a check to CRM that soon bounced.
 
Smith is now also facing charges in Georgia for writing a bogus $3,500 check to a cleaning company that he hired to spruce up a Georgia mansion and condo. Police in Sandy Springs tell Action News the mansion was for sale and that Smith told his girlfriend he planned to purchase it. She accompanied him during his visit to City Rescue Mission.
 
On Friday, Smith was out of jail on bond.
 
"It was just a big misunderstanding," Smith said of all the allegations against him.
 
Smith told Action News he inherited a multimillion dollar trust fund at the age of 16. He said he first came to Jacksonville last fall to purchase multiple homes as an investment, but he said his plans changed when his identity was stolen.
 
Smith sent us an email from an alleged employee of First Tennessee Bank, that he says is proof the bank mistakenly closed his account. The verbatim email, provided by Smith, reads:

Good Evening Dr. Smith,
As you requested, I am  sending the following email:
Dr. Jerell (Jason) Smith is a Private Client here at First Tennessee Bank, and has been since 1999 beginning as a child trust fund. Dr. Smith has never had a negative balance, and has never had a check returned because of  insufficient funds. In October, Dr. Smith became a victim of Identity theft, which was caused by his former accountant. At this time, the courts ordered Dr. Smith to turn over all finances that he  received from his late grandmother's trust. Dr. Smith's former accountant wrote over 23 unauthorized checks on his account, and till today, we are still getting checks. Therefore, we had to cancel all accounts that were associated with Dr. Smith and issue new account numbers. The check that is in question was deposited in Jacksonville, Florida, was returned due the follwoing reason "Could Not Locate Account". That was due to Dr. Smith's account being frozen and pulled from the system pending the outcome of the investigation. Dr. Smith has been issued new account numbers with positive balances. If any offical is needed to come to court on Dr. Smith's behalf, we would love to do so, and with Dr. Smith's approval, we will bring the neccessary documents.
Harold Thomas

Smith is to appear in a Georgia court on Monday for a pretrial hearing.
 
"They're going to come to court on Monday to testify about the clerical error, with my approval, and hopefully get everything taken care of," Smith told Action News. "We're working to get everyone that I owe, and get them paid."
 
When reporters at Action News' sister station in Atlanta sent a message to the email address listed for Thomas to ask if the information was accurate, they received the following response. It reads, verbatim:

Good Afternoon,
This letter is accurate, and due to privacy of Mr. Smith's account, that's all the information that I can induldge. I will be glad to speak with you concerning Mr. Smith's account only in the presence of Mr. Smith.
Thank You
Harold Thomas

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Action News shared the emails with the spokesperson for First Tennessee Bank, Jack Bradley, who said they are still investigating.
 
"I have not been able to find anyone to comment regarding this email," said Bradley, "but it looks highly suspicious to me. I don't believe we would handle the situation like the email describes. That is not our email address and Harold Thomas is not listed as an employee on any record I have access to. I can't give you a definitive answer…"
 
Smith told Action News Thomas' name may not be listed as an employee because he works as an independent accountant for the bank.
 
Michael Rowan hopes Smith's claims are true. The owner of Ameripro Inspections in Jacksonville says Smith hired his company to inspect 20 different properties on the Westside in December, but Rowan said the $5,400 check Smith gave them was no good. Smith, he said, never called again.
 
"He's had two or three months to come forward at this stage, so if he can prove he's innocent - by all means, but I don't anticipate any change," said Rowan. "As business owners we get bad checks - it's part of doing business - but when someone physically goes in and donates money to a good cause, and then purposefully doesn't have the money? That was just a shock."
 
Smith acknowledged his criminal history to Action News. We found he is a convicted felon who is wanted in Kentucky for escape, theft and two counts of theft by unlawful deception. The Kentucky Department of Corrections says he has used the alias' Jason Gaters, Jason Gators, and Jason Smith.
 
"I'm not the person they're trying to portray me to be,"  he said.  "We all have pasts. I may not have a good past, but I'm looking toward my future."
 
Smith says his future does not include a run for mayor in Memphis.
 
"It was a possible thing I was going to do, but I've got so much going on, I'm not."
 
Smith told Action News a cashier's check for $200,000 will be delivered to the City Rescue Mission on Monday morning.
 
"I want Action News to be there, so I can clear my name and make this right."
 
CRM Executive Director Penny Kievet sent Action News the following statement Friday:
"Mr. Smith did contact our offices today. Our prayers are that the donation that was pledged to City Rescue Mission would become a reality so we can continue our plans to assist the graduates of our recovery program with the renovation of the many houses we have on our McDuff campus. "
 
Smith also said that Kennetic Productions will also soon be paid for their services.
 
"That sounds wonderful," said CEO and Executive Producer Christopher Kennelly. "That sounds wonderful."

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