Police Blotter: Arrest Made in Check Fraud; Investigations Continue in Other Identity Theft Cases

Man arrested for passing bad check

Officers with the Bloomfield Hills Department of Public Safety arrested a Pontiac man whom they say tried to cash a fraudulent check at a bank last week.

The 21-year-old man was arrested without incident outside the Charter One Bank along Woodward Avenue at about 11 a.m. Nov. 10, police reports said. He was released after processing at the Police Department and remains free while the case is under review at the Oakland County Prosecutor’s Office.

Officers were called to the bank by an employee who discovered that the bank’s security system confirmed the check was bogus, a report said. The suspect remained in the bank and was standing at the teller window when officers arrived, the report said.

He could not explain how he was in possession of a check that was reported stolen recently from a residence in Hazel Park, Police Chief Richard Matott said.

Residents report separate cases of identity theft

Bank notification helped thwart fraud attempt 

Officers with the Bloomfield Hills Department of Public Safety investigated an attempted fraud that involved a city resident whose personal information was nearly used to open credit card accounts out of state, reports said.

The resident called police to the 300 block of Lakewood Drive at about 4:30 p.m. Monday after receiving a call from a bank branch in California that wanted to verify information for a credit card application, police said.

The suspect had the resident’s correct Social Security number, but other security measures prevented the transaction from occurring. No arrest was made, and no suspect information was provided.

Missing Social Security checks were stolen

A Bloomfield Hills resident who has not received his Social Security checks since March recently discovered he was a victim of a fraud scheme.

Officers from the Bloomfield Hills Department of Public Safety were called to the 100 block of Hidden Ridge Drive at about 4 p.m. Tuesday by a resident who said his Social Security checks had not been not automatically deposited into his account as usual. When he contacted the bank, he learned that the checks were deposited into an account in another person’s name that was not authorized, reports said.

The Social Security Administration office corrected the account, and the case remains under investigation.

Anyone with information about any of these incidents is encouraged to call the department at 248-644-4200.

For questions about this blotter, email Art.Aisner@Patch.com.