ALBANY COUNTY — Jahquel Robertson, 22, was the ringleader of a sophisticated check-fraud scheme, allowing him to bilk banks and supermarkets of $90,000, police say.

He pleaded guilty on Wednesday, Nov. 22, in Albany County Court before Judge Peter A. Lynch to second-degree criminal possession of a forgery device and first-degree scheme to defraud, the Albany County District Attorney’s Office said in a press release.

The scheme continued from March through October of 2017, according to the release, and involved numerous banks and Price Chopper branches throughout Albany County and gave rise to investigations by many law-enforcement agencies, including the United States Postal Inspectors; the New York State Police; and the Colonie, Albany, Guilderland, Bethlehem, Cohoes, and Watervliet police departments.

The loss sustained by the banks and Price Choppers is estimated to total $90,000, the release said.

Commander Adam Hornick of the Bethlehem Police Department said Wednesday that Robertson, of Albany, was the ringleader in a case involving the circulation of fraudulent checks bearing the correct routing and other numbers for the accounts of banks or supermarkets.

The scheme was “relatively sophisticated,” involving a lot of different people and layers, Hornick said.

The scheme involved “runners,” Hornick said, who would cash the payroll checks or other instruments made out to them; the routing numbers and other information were accurate,  he said, “so there was nothing obviously fraudulent.”

Heather Orth, spokeswoman for the Albany County District Attorney’s Office, said that Robertson found his runners this way: He would post on Facebook or Instagram, Orth said, asking, “Who wants to make some money?”

Once he had someone interested, Robertson would make a check in that person’s name and have him cash it, using his I.D., either at his bank or at Price Chopper, promising him that he had nothing to worry about and would not get caught. Once the person had cashed the check, Robertson would give him a small fraction and keep the rest. He would then unfriend or block the person on social media and move on to someone else.

On Sept. 29, 2017, during the execution of a search warrant at Robertson’s home, a laptop was recovered that contained many of the forged checks produced and used over the last year, the release said.

Robertson faces three-and-two-thirds to 11 years in state prison when he is sentenced on Jan. 8, 2018, according to the release.

This case shows the “positive resolution” that results from multiple law-enforcement agencies working together and sharing information on the same types of cases, Hornick said.