3 San Diego Men Among 6 Indicted in Theft of Checks

Federal agents in San Diego posing as corrupt bankers have broken up a check-stealing ring that claimed access to nearly $50 million in corporate checks, apparently filched from mailboxes in the Chicago area.

Six men, including three from San Diego, were indicted Wednesday by a federal grand jury and charged with masterminding a scheme to pilfer and then cash checks payable to such well- known companies as General Foods Corp. and United Technologies.

Investigators still are trying to determine how the men obtained the checks, according to Assistant U.S. Atty. Edward C. Weiner. The 13-count indictment says two of the defendants held a conference call in May with several people believed to be U.S. Postal Service employees. But no postal workers as yet have been indicted.

The indictment says four of the defendants met on various occasions last month with federal agents pretending to be crooked bankers and offered them kickbacks for cashing stolen checks.

On June 12, defendant Alnasir Abdulaziz Wissanji, 27, of La Jolla gave an undercover Drug Enforcement Administration agent five stolen checks worth more than $497,000, the indictment says. Wissanji allegedly called the supposed banker later in the day and said he wanted to cash an additional $30 million in stolen checks in the following four months.

Weiner said it was unknown if the defendants succeeded in cashing any stolen checks with the aid of genuine bankers. The indictment describes their frustrations in attempting to cash one $400,000 check before meeting with the undercover agents.

“We don’t know how many others might have been cashed as a result of the scheme,” Weiner said.

Besides Wissanji, the accused are Otis Raymond Norton, 48, of Los Angeles; Walter Anthony Morrison, 55, of Las Vegas; Bradley Kemp Pentelute, 36, of Park City, Utah; Ralph G. Dalton, 61, of San Diego, and Anthony Mark Walsh, 31, of San Diego. They are charged with conspiring to receive stolen property and possess stolen mail.

Federal prosecutors also disclosed Wednesday that Walsh was indicted last month on four charges of conspiring to distribute cocaine. Weiner said investigators were uncertain if the check-stealing operation was somehow tied to drug smuggling.

Each defendant faces a maximum penalty of 95 years in prison and fines totaling $3.25 million if convicted on all the check-related counts.

Checks were stolen from the Keebler Co., Certified Grocers Midwest Inc., the University of Illinois at Chicago and others, according to the indictment. The defendants allegedly told undercover FBI agents they would be able to supply checks stolen from E.F. Hutton & Co., Merrill Lynch and other brokerage firms.