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Simi pair arrested in check forgery case
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A Simi Valley couple were arrested this week after being linked to more than 70 cases of check forgery with a total loss of $10,800, police said Thursday.
Witness accounts led investigators to suspect Catherine Fisher, 29, and her husband, Ruben Sanchez, 35, of passing forged checks at retail stores in Simi Valley, Moorpark, Thousand Oaks, Newbury Park, West Hills, Westlake Village and Canoga Park, Simi Valley Police Department officials said.
Detectives launched an investigation in March after several victims' account numbers were used on forged checks.
Fisher and Sanchez were taken into custody Tuesday morning during a traffic stop in Simi Valley, police said.
Authorities executed a search warrant at the couple's home and found stolen mail, identification cards, ATM cards and equipment used to manufacture fraudulent checks, police said.
Investigators said the couple obtained bank account numbers by stealing mail from curbside mailboxes, and then used the information to produce false checks, ATM cards and identification cards.
The pair were arrested and booked into Ventura County Jail on suspicion of multiple counts of burglary, forgery, identity theft and charges related to passing false checks. Each was held Thursday in lieu of $50,000 bail.
Police department officials are reminding citizens to drop sensitive outgoing mail in interior post office mailboxes and pick up delivered mail as soon as possible.
Posted by Hueneme_girl29 on August 8, 2008 at 8:17 a.m. (Suggest removal)
I dont get how someone these days can forge a check....When I used to write checks (so old school these days!), I was ALWAYS carded. It was so annoying. If they are forging all these checks, none of the retail stores asked for I.D.?
Posted by dgreene on August 8, 2008 at 8:21 a.m. (Suggest removal)
I work at a retail store and we will NOT take your check without checking proper ID. Our registers remind us and we do get in trouble if we don't check ID. It's very important to do this, because it's the easiest way to prevent fraud.
Posted by pific on August 8, 2008 at 8:53 a.m. (Suggest removal)
Some of the stores that honored the checks are also guilty 'cause they failed to check/ask for proper ID. No wonder this couple had a fantastic time in ripping off the people.
Posted by mommainthe805 on August 8, 2008 at 9:05 a.m. (Suggest removal)
Tweakers seem to make a habit of stealing identities...I'd bet money they were methheads.
Posted by thetruthdotcom on August 8, 2008 at 9:16 a.m. (Suggest removal)
i'd bet on meth as the cause
Posted by lilmamma on August 8, 2008 at 9:25 a.m. (Suggest removal)
Stores need to ask for ID when accepting ATM cards and checks. I just had my card used by a thief and he or she charged 200 bucks worth of stuff. Identity theft is a mess to clean up and I hope these people stay in jail for awhile.
Posted by axel718 on August 8, 2008 at 12:39 p.m. (Suggest removal)
pific.....absolutely correct....there are numerous stores that do not check id's for check or even credit cards. There are even a few banks that will hand out cash as long as you hand them the ATM card, they dont even ask for ID!!!
It is sad that alot of people (not all of them) that work in banks and stores can't pick out a fake id or a counterfeit bill.......
One of the easiest scams is th tweaker will take a counterfeit 100 dollar bill into a Goodwill store or small grocery store and but something for 2 dollars. They pass the counterfeit bill and get 98 dollars in real money.....pretty sad...
Posted by sparks240 on August 9, 2008 at 7:17 p.m. (Suggest removal)
I used to be in the check printing business. There are many ways to put security features on checks and other negotiable documents. They don't do one bit of good if they are not used.
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