The following story from today’s Charlotte Observer will be of interest to the people of Union county. The name of the Monroe lady to whom the package was addressed was of course fictitious. Local postal employees could find no such name in this city and the package was returned to Charlotte, but the instance should serve as a warning to merchants of this county to be on the lookout for check flashers. The story follows:
Exponents of the bogus check profession were learned last night to have relieved four leading mercantile establishments of the city on last Thursday of amounts totaling about $200.
The stores who were “taken in” by means of a fake certified check on a St. Louis bank and forged instruments on two local banks were Belk Brothers company, J.B. Ivey and company, the Little-Long company and J.L. Staten company.
It was not until Saturday and yesterday that the full extent of the loss was known to the stores. In the case of J.L. Staten company it was learned that a well dressed man of about 50 years of age made a purchase of $18 worth of feminine apparel Thursday afternoon, which he ordered mailed to his “daughter” in Monroe. He gave Mr. Staten a check for $38 on a prominent bank of St. Louis, Mo., which was made out in the form of a certified check and, according to Mr. Staten, bore all the marks of being genuine.
The “gentleman” himself was the acme of politeness and culture, according to Mr. Staten, and the balance of $20 was paid to him in cash. He departed and it was not until late Saturday afternoon that any more thought was given to the transaction, when the package purchased by the man was returned from Monroe marked “not in directory.” Yesterday morning the check was reported by the Federal Reserve bank as being bogus in every respect, including false numerals and a forged signature.
Meanwhile it was also discovered by other stores that checks for $58.83 were given to each of them by a man judged to be around 45 years of age on last Thursday afternoon were worthless. The man made a small purchase at each of the stores and in each case presented a check already made out for $53.83, receiving the difference in cash.
The check given to Little-Long’s and Belk’s were made out on the counter banks of the Union National bank and the one given to Ivey’s was made out on a similar form of the Commercial National bank, it was stated.
In the last three instances the man gave an address on Allen street, but upon investigation, it was learned that no such party was known at the address given. The description of the man varies, but it appears he was not closely examined and no thought of crookedness appears to have been given to his action at the time.
There is no certainty, it was learned last night, that the man who gave the certified check on the St. Louis bank and the man giving the local checks are the same, although the ages and appearances are said to correspond in many respects.
Some of the stores are covered in the loss by a forgery bond and, according to Morrison Ewing, manager of the forgery bond department of the National Surety company, the opinion of the investigation bureau of his company is that the man who gave the bogus certified check is a member of a gang of operators who are attempting to flood the country with checks of this nature, said to be something of a new departure in the way of check passing.
The recent capture of a young man from Beauford, N.C., in Birmingham, Ala., after he is said to have passed hundreds of dollars worth of similar certified checks, leads to this suspicion, it is said.
The local branch of Bodeckers’s National Detective agency are working on the case and it is said that it represents one of the most extensive “lifts” made in this city in one day in many months.
It was learned last night that such occurrences are rarely successful with local stores, many attempts being made right along to but over a worthless check, but almost as often the would-be culprit being detected.
An instance of this kind happened at the Little-Long store last week, when a nice looking woman made a purchase and tendered a check supposed to have been on a bank in a small town near Charlotte. When told that no record of a bank in that town by the name given on the check could be found, she stated that it had just opened two or three days before. She got away while an investigation was being made.
From the front page of The Monroe Journal, March 7, 1922
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