Forgers Turned Banks’ Trash Into Cash; 3 Arrested, 12 More Sought

They literally turned trash into cash.

That’s the way Los Angeles police describe a forgery ring that has caused banks in the San Fernando Valley to be a little more careful with what they throw out at the end of the day.

Detective Russell Pungrchar said three suspects have been arrested and 12 more are being sought after a weeklong investigation into the thefts, which involved more than 100 banks as far away as San Francisco and San Diego. Losses total more than $100,000, he said, “and the figure keeps climbing every day.”

Raymond Sugarman, 44, whom police describe as the ringleader, and Michelle Bell, 35, were arrested Friday at their Cheviot Hills home, where investigators found “a fully operational lab for forging documents they needed for their operation,” Pungrchar said. A second woman, whom police would not identify, has also been arrested.

Pungrchar said that while police were arresting Bell about 7 a.m., Sugarman, whose arrest record for forgery dates back to 1963, drove up to the home “with a carload full” of trash bags containing shredded paper that had been taken from the garbage Dumpsters of several banks in the Valley.

Since October, the ring had been taking the shredded paper late at night and reassembling the pieces to gather information about individual bank accounts, such as balances, Social Security numbers, maiden names, signature cards and account numbers, Lt. Duane Gansemer said.

Made Phony Driver’s Licenses

The suspects frequently used records from the trash to make counterfeit checks, Gansemer said. They would then make phony driver’s licenses to show tellers as identification to cash the checks, the largest of which was written for $9,000, he said.

Sometimes they were able to steal personal checks from homes and then use trash from the banks to get information on the account balances, Gansemer said.

In addition, the ring would steal wallets “and once you’ve got that, a good criminal can easily find out where you do your banking,” he said.

“It’s a pretty smooth way of stealing money,” said Pungrchar. “It’s fairly common among a certain breed of forgers.”

San Diego police arrested Sugarman in 1975, and he was convicted of running an identical operation, Pungrchar said. Bell has been arrested more than 40 times, mostly for forgery offenses, and has used 37 aliases, Pungrchar said. Bell is on parole for forgery, he said.

At the suspects’ home, in the 10200 block of Monte Mar Drive, police confiscated more than 500 stolen checks, 13 bags of shredded papers, photography equipment used to forge documents and counterfeit driver’s licenses with pictures of people who police believe are members of the ring, Gansemer said.

Sugarman, who pleaded not guilty Monday to eight counts of forgery, receiving stolen property and theft, is being held in lieu of $75,000 bail at Los Angeles County Jail. Bell, who also pleaded not guilty to the same charges, is being held without bail at Sybil Brand Institute.

Police do not know how many bank customers’ accounts were looted, but Pungrchar predicted that losses at First Nationwide Savings, one of the institutions involved, could be heavy.

Lock on Dumpster Removed

John Allender, director of security for First Nationwide, said the savings and loan normally keeps its Dumpsters locked, but the lock on the container behind the Woodland Hills branch was cut off about a month ago and the contents were taken.

The institution was not aware of the problem until last week, when its trash hauler asked why the Dumpster was no longer locked, Allender said. It will probably take First Nationwide officials several weeks to determine how badly they were hit.

“We don’t know of any losses yet, but they may start showing up on statements,” Allender said. “The customer won’t be the one to take the loss. We take the loss.”

Police are advising financial institutions to burn their trash at the end of the day rather than throwing it into Dumpsters.

Allender said his institution has tried many methods to keep trash out of criminals’ hands, but persistent crooks can usually manage to get it if they try hard enough. Allender did not rule out burning the trash.

“We’ve tried everything,” he said. “At least for the time being, I think we’ll cut the stuff up differently and get another shredder so it’s not as easy to piece it together.”