LPD: Man opens checking account using stolen checks

LINCOLN, Neb. (KOLN) - Officers with the Lincoln Police Department arrested a man this week they believe opened a checking account using stolen checks.

According to police, on July 2 around 2:30 p.m. an employee from Union Bank and Trust reported that a 23-year-old man had opened an account on June 19.

LPD said the employee reported that there were three checks deposited into the account they determined to be fraudulent.

Investigators said the owner of the account the checks were written from was contacted and she said she’d closed the account in 2018. She told police she did not know the 23-year-old man and did not authorize any payments to him.

LPD said two of the checks were each made out for $1,450 and the third was $9,200 and deposited into the man’s account between June 19 and June 22.

Officers said the man then made a number of purchases and withdraws. On June 22 following the $9,200 deposit, LPD said the man went to Walgreens and tried making a $1,400 purchase but it was denied.

On Tuesday around around 3 a.m., officers located the man near 16th and Lake Streets following a disturbance report.

LPD said the man was taken into custody and arrested for felony theft by deception and 2nd degree forgery charges.

Investigators want to warn the community that as you dispose of your unused checks, even if you have closed the account, shred the checks as a way to prevent those checks being stolen and used for criminal purposes. Several organizations around Lincoln hold shredding events throughout the year for sensitive documents.