Crime Report: Authorities investigate possible fraud on city’s account

July 21

Forgery, counterfeit check/forged signatures: 1327 Foothill Blvd. A La Cañada City Hall employee contacted the Crescenta Valley Sheriff’s Station to report receiving an email from the city’s bank alerting him about a possible fraudulent or unauthorized transaction on the city’s account.

Deputies looked at the email and saw a check had been fraudulently made and contained two forged signatures. While the check contained the city’s correct routing and account number, it was not adorned with a city seal or any other official authorization, according to the sheriff’s report.

The name of the payee listed on the check was not a city employee or anyone who had contact with the actual persons named on the check. The employee who made the report said he does not believe any other employees gave out the bank information to the suspect. Because of the fraud alert, the transaction was not completed by the bank.

July 22

Theft by access card: 1600 block of Fairmount Avenue. A woman who runs a business with her mother out of her own home reported that the day before, while balancing the company’s checking account, she noticed three suspicious withdrawals had been made on July 18.

When she contacted Bank of America, a representative told her someone had made the transactions online using the company’s account information. One of the transactions involved money routed to a third account. She terminated the account and told deputies she was desirous of prosecution.

July 23

Burglary, vehicle: 4400 block of Cornishon Avenue. A woman was dropping her son off at school at around 9:10 a.m. She got out of her 2015 GMC Denali and locked it, returning 13 minutes later. While in her vehicle on the way to work, the woman got a text from American Express indicating several purchases had been made using her card. Once she got to work, she reached for her purse behind the driver’s seat and realized it had been stolen. The purple Louis Vuitton bag contained the victim’s driver’s license and an orange Hermes wallet with a gold buckle. Also stolen was a brown Louis Vuitton credit card holder containing six credit cards, a bank card and other account cards. The woman, a Glendale resident, reported the incident to Glendale Police and was referred to the Crescenta Valley Sheriff’s Station. Deputies there looked at the vehicle but observed no signs of forced entry.

Compiled by Sara Cardine