THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Thursday, May 2, 1996 TAG: 9605020422
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B3 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY LYNN WALTZ, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: NORFOLK LENGTH: Medium: 62 lines
The Secret Service has arrested a Portsmouth man in connection with a counterfeit business-check scheme and is looking for three others for questioning.
Francisco E. Ortiz, 23, of the 900 block of Chumley Road, was charged with bank fraud for allegedly using fraudulent identification to cash counterfeit payroll checks.
Federal agents believe the scheme involved scanning legitimate payroll checks into computers then altering them with graphics programs. New names - sometimes real and sometimes false - were inserted on the checks and fraudulent or stolen identification was used to cash the checks.
About 80 checks from two businesses, worth a total of $75,000, were fraudulently cashed, agents said.
``Computer technology has advanced to the point where high-end graphics programs make it easy to counterfeit payroll checks,'' said Larry Kumjian, agent in charge of the Secret Service. Kumjian said his office has worked several counterfeit check schemes in the last few years.
The two businesses targeted are a real estate company and a recycling firm. The counterfeit checks bore the signature of the person authorized to write the checks, court papers show. However, the quality was poor.
Investigators identified Ortiz as the man captured by bank cameras cashing counterfeit checks. They said Ortiz, a former Navy man, allegedly posed as ``Neville H. Perish'' using a false Navy photo identification card. The Naval Criminal Investigative Service is helping in the investigation.
In another case, a man posed as Scottie C. Washington. Washington is a real person not involved in the case, agents said. Washington's identification was stolen from his car earlier.
In a third case, a man identified himself as Melvin McNeal. Investigators believe McNeal and Perish may be fictitious names.
Portsmouth police developed information that Ortiz was at the Portsmouth YMCA at the corner of Effingham and Bart Streets serving community-service time from a prior run-in with the law. Secret Service agents arrrested Ortiz on Monday while he was pulling weeds at the YMCA, they said. He was arraigned in federal court on Tuesday.
Earlier this year, Ortiz was arrested at the Department of Motor Vehicles on a weapons violation. ILLUSTRATION: Photos
The men portrayed in these photos are wanted for questioning by the
Secret Service. If you know the men, call Portsmouth Crime Line at
488-7777. The first photo was taken at Crestar Bank in the 100 block
of Volvo Parkway in Chesapeake at 10:24 a.m. April 2. The man in
the photo identified himself as Melvin McNeal. The middle photo was
taken at Crestar Bank in the 1100 block of George Washington Highway
in Chesapeake at 10:11 a.m. April 1. The man in the photo
identified himself as Scottie C. Washington. The photo on the right
was taken at First Union Bank in the 3900 block of Portsmouth
Boulevard in Chesapeake at 10:08 a.m. April 16. This man was in
the bank with Francisco E. Ortiz, arrested earlier this week for
bank fraud.
by CNB