LIGONIER, Pa. — A suspect already charged with washing checks and forging them in Robinson and Peters Townships is now accused of doing the same thing to a business in the Ligonier Valley.
”A check got intercepted and that check got forged and ultimately cashed for large sums,” Assistant Chief Mike Matrunics said.
Police in Ligonier haven’t charged him yet but said he is already in custody for the crimes he allegedly committed outside of Pittsburgh.
He is accused of stealing a check belonging to the Town and Country Ford dealership in Ligonier, and forging a handful of counterfeit checks for a total of $13,000.
”They’re just basically redoing the actual value of that check, and information on the check like maybe the person who it’s for, it’s not really for that person authorized by the owner or issuer of the check,” Matrunics said.
Police said this suspect brought that check back and cashed it at the Commercial Bank and Trust of Ligonier, which was how they identified him.”In this particular case I’m dealing with, the individual actually used his identity,” Matrunics explained.
Police believe this suspect is part of a much larger ring that targets checks in the mail.
Investigators have some advice to protect yourself if you own a business, and it starts with tracking those checks.
”Where they are going, when they’re cashed, if they’re being processed or not. If you’re seeing something that’s not being processed at a certain time you might want to contact that vendor who you’re sending that check to and find out what’s going on with that check,” Matrunics said.
Police said only businesses have reported the crimes. Ligonier Valley police said its crime spree includes neighboring communities including Unity Township, Latrobe and Pleasant Unity.
They are working with the district attorney’s office to handle those cases.
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