Federal officials say a group of eight people who manufactured fake checks were bold enough to use computer scans of signatures of several Utah law enforcement officials in their scam.
Among two cases of identity theft profiled Wednesday at the U.S. Attorney's Office, law enforcement also talked about the case of a man who stole a credit card and went on a $70,000 spending spree, including the purchase of a $56,000, 3.17 carat princess-cut diamond.
The two cases are just the latest results of members of the Utah Identity Theft Task Force, a group of local, state and federal law enforcement managed under the FBI.
"The indictments returned this morning demonstrate our continuing strong commitment to aggressively investigating and prosecuting identity theft cases in Utah," U.S. Attorney Brett Tolman said.
According to a 33-count indictment brought against eight Salt Lake City residents, the group used computer check-making software to create what appeared to be payroll checks. Company logos were actually scanned directly out of the phone book to create the checks, and in some instances, the signatures of state prosecutors and other officials were scanned off of court documents and used as signatures on the bogus checks.
In some instances, the signature of former chairman of the Utah Board of Pardons Mike Sibbett was used. The signatures of two Salt Lake County deputy attorneys also were used.
Deputy county attorney Howard Lemcke said he was "bemused and angry" when he found his John Hancock on one of the fake checks.
"I take it somehow as a backhanded compliment and that this was the most beautiful signature that they'd ever seen," Lemcke said with a bit of humor.
Tolman said they figured many of the suspects had used court documents or board of pardons documents they had in their possession to copy the signatures.
Overall, agents estimated the group had cashed about $50,000 worth of checks. Although the eight are accused of copying these signatures, agents say the real victims are the stores who cashed the checks.
U.S. Postal Inspector for Utah Joseph Schouten said this case highlights the need for businesses, in particular smaller businesses, to take better steps to detect bogus checks.
Charged in the indictment are Justine Coppolino, 38; Richard Siufanua, 44; Ilaita Eli Tafili, 35; Irene J. May-Navarro, 23; Darlene Morris, 34; Michael Aaron Longshaw, 24; Michael J. Bue, 28; and Melynda Jonelle Hairup, 29. Coppolino, Morris, Longshaw and Bue are in custody. All others have been summoned to appear in federal court.
All are charged with conspiracy to commit bank fraud, possession of an implement to make counterfeit securities, possession of an identification document-making implement, bank fraud, aggravated identity theft, production of false identification documents and possession of a controlled substance.
Lemcke said it was ironic that a while back he had charged Coppolino with forgery in state court and wondered if she had lifted his signature on that charging document to commit another identity theft crime.
In a second indictment unsealed Wednesday, Patrick Vaughan Reddish, 33, of Bountiful was accused of using an inactivated credit card stolen in a burglary. Prosecutors say Reddish activated the credit card using the victim's Social Security number and, over the next four days, racked up about $70,000 in charges. Among those charges was the purchase of a 3.17 carat princess cut diamond worth $56,511.
Reddish is in custody. Federal agents say they have yet to locate the ill-bought diamond, but they are following leads.
E-mail: gfattah@desnews.com