2 Arrested in Alleged Bid to Cash Stolen Checks

Two women have been arrested for trying to cash Social Security checks stolen from a mail delivery car in Costa Mesa four weeks ago, postal officials said Monday.

Rosa Alvarado Funes, 27, and Carmin Salinas Martinez, 36, were arrested in Los Angeles County in separate incidents. They were held in a Los Angeles jail without bond on charges of possessing stolen mail and using false identification, said Steve Schneringer, a U.S. Postal Service inspector.

The women, both transients, are believed to be associated with a loosely knit gang of illegal aliens from Mexico, Guatemala and Honduras that has been operating in Los Angeles County for three years, Schneringer said.

Officials have arrested 39 people in the ring so far, Schneringer said. There have been 12 such robberies in Orange County since Oct. 1, he said.

On March 3, two men smashed the rear window of a mail delivery car in Costa Mesa and fled with hundreds of letters, including at least 21 Social Security checks, authorities said. The robbery occurred in a quiet residential neighborhood near the juncture of the Corona del Mar and San Diego freeways while the carrier was delivering mail on foot.

Funes, identified as a house cleaner, was arrested March 12 after she tried to cash a $614 check at a Lancaster liquor store, Schneringer said. The day before, she used false identification to cash another stolen check for $631, he said.

Fake ID Recognized

Martinez was arrested March 9 when she tried to cash a $755 check at an Albertson’s supermarket in Palmdale, Schneringer said. The store manager recognized the fake identification and held the woman until police arrived, he said.

If convicted, the women could face five years in prison and a $2,000 fine, he said.

Following the rash of stolen checks, Social Security officials in Costa Mesa said they ordered 21 replacement checks, which were to be delivered 10 to 14 days after the claims were filed. Some people were still awaiting their checks Monday.

“I called the Social Security office the same day they were stolen, and they took our name and all the information,” said Grover Nutt, a 66-year-old retired schoolteacher, who added that officials would not say when a new check would arrive.

“It puts a hardship on you when you fit it into your monthly budget,” he said.

Kathy Yang said her disabled 25-year-old son, Vincent Yang, hasn’t received a replacement check, so she and her husband have helped him pay his bills. “If we weren’t here, he probably wouldn’t have been able to pay his rent or buy food,” she said.