Customs: $730K in Fake Checks, Money Orders Smuggled into JFK

U.S. Customs and Border Protection seized more than $730,000 in smuggled bank checks and money orders at John F. Kennedy Airport this weekend.

On Saturday, CBP examined a shipment of checks and money orders with labels from large banks, including Chase, Bank of America, and Western Federal Credit Union, officials said. The shipment, sent from the Ivory Coast, had been described as “documents” and contained money orders and checks in $965, $985, and $2,920 denominations, officials said.

Sign up for your local daily Patch newsletter and breaking news alerts here

Officers deemed them fake because the documents “lacked the necessary security features consistent with those of legitimate monetary instruments,” according to CBP.

The 516 bank money orders and checks had a combined value of $732,585, officials said.

“CBP Officers are protecting the American public from various dangers on a daily basis,” said Robert E. Perez, Director of CBP’s New York Field Operations. “The interception of these counterfeit bank checks in a one-week period is a direct reflection of the vigilance and commitment to mission success by our CBP Officers daily.”

No arrests have been made in the incident. The investigation is ongoing.

Photos via CBP

More on Patch:

• Manhasset Business Helps Family on ‘George to the Rescue‘
• ‘Jewel’ of Garden City Needs to Be Restored
• LBPD: Long Beach Trio Sold Cocaine to Undercover Cops
• Nassau Cops to Boost Patrols for Passover, Easter
• Cops: 2 Freeport Armed Robberies May Be Related
• Customer Killed After SUV Crashes Through AT&T Store in Great Neck
• Wow Houses of the Week
• DA: Nassau to Auction 13 Forfeited Cars
• Man Arrested After Robbing Lindenhurst 7-Eleven, Police Say
• Gene Saks, Tony Award Winning Director, Dies in His East Hampton Home
• Police: Mattituck Man Arrested After Heroin Found in Car