Fraud charges have been filed against a Utah man accused of passing two phony checks worth more than $70,000.
The suspect was caught in a sting operation last week and is charged with presenting a $50,000 cashier's check drawn on a Texas bank as security for an investment. The investment offer was made to a businessman and an undercover officer, according to the attorney general's office. However, no such bank exists.The 45-year-old man was charged with two counts of securities fraud and was also charged in Weber County with communications fraud, a second-degree felony, in connection with the purchase of a car.
The suspect is accused of posing as a lieutenant commander in the U.S. Navy while purchasing a car from Ray Citte Auto Dealership in Riverdale. The dealership accepted a check for the car for $20,025 and he left with the vehicle. The check, however, would not clear and investigators learned he was not in any branch of the armed services.