Everett, Marysville police catch suspected check fraud ringleader

EVERETT — The fraud involved more than a dozen businesses and individuals.

Two checks were passed using the account of a man who had died.

Others were counterfeited using a Marysville School District account.

Police in Everett and Marysville believe they have caught up with a ringleader.

An Everett man with a history of identity theft was arrested Sept. 25 at the Everett Station transit center. Police said he was trying to purchase bus cards using a fraudulent checking account. He was found in possession of several checks. Some were believed to be counterfeit.

The suspect, 43, allegedly told an Everett detective that he created the phony checks. He described an arrangement in which people would bring him stolen mail and he made counterfeit checks for them to pass with the understanding they would split the proceeds.

Detectives in Marysville were investigating the same suspect for several months.

In June, he and another man allegedly wrote checks to themselves at a Marysville supermarket while using the account of a man who had died.

When police went to investigate, a loss-prevention officer for the grocery store said the suspects also had made several attempts to cash what appeared to be Marysville School District checks. Some of the attempts had been successful.

Detectives showed the checks to a school district finance officer. After she examined them, police came to believe counterfeiters had used a school district refund check to produce counterfeit checks.

The school district money came from a relatively small account that is not a part of the day-to-day classroom operations. District officials still are trying to collect $1,500 charged to the district. They are thankful detectives were able to crack the case quickly.

“There was some good work by the Marysville Police Department,” school district spokesman Craig Degginger said.

It appears the suspect also stole a check from an Arlington business. It had been in a secured mail-collection box in Smokey Point. In another case, a Bellevue realty office was broken into and checks were stolen, forged and cashed.

Eric Stevick: 425-339-3446; stevick@heraldnet.com.