Mark Thomas King, 40, is charged with aggregate theft. Court documents state an anonymous tipster called Crime Stoppers to report the crime and give King's name as well as a description.
Police say King admitted to them that his father, Thomas King, died in 2006 while he was incarcerated in Texas state prison and that King had been cashing the Texas Municipal Retirement System (TMRS) checks that were made payable to his father. King told police each of the checks were for approximately $500, and court records show the total amount was for more than $36,000 since his dad's death.
TMRS says they received a change of address form in 2007 purportedly from the elder King which displayed the retiree's signature and sent by the retiree. The new address is the same as that of the younger King, the TMRS says. Their records did not show that the elder King was deceased.
According to court records, King cashed one of the checks as recently as two weeks ago at a check cashing store in Pasadena. Police say they matched the customer profile records with King's driver's license.
Bond has been set at $5,000.
