BATON ROUGE - A man is facing multiple charges after he allegedly stole multiple checks from a local business.

On July 2, a restaurant owner reported that multiple business checks had been stolen, forged, cashed and made payable to people who weren't his employees. During the investigation, Deontre Joseph was identified as a suspect.

According to the arrest report, Joseph was a former work release inmate who worked at the restaurant. Authorities say Joseph wasn't issued any of the five checks that had his name as the payee.

The five checks totaled $2,478.37. According to the victim, none of the other 13 payees worked at his business nor had access to the checkbook.

At least 32 checks were forged and cashed resulting in a financial loss of $24,791.49.

On July 17, authorities went to Joseph's apartment. At the apartment, deputies discovered Joseph lived at the residence with a woman who allegedly cashed multiple stolen checks worth $4,796.48.

Joseph was arrested Monday when deputies executed an arrest warrant. He was charged with felon in possession of a firearm, illegal possession of stolen things, theft, forgery, and criminal conspiracy.

Authorities didn't say if the woman who cashed the checks faced any charges.