4 Arrested in Theft of $100,000 in Tax Refunds

Postal inspectors and law enforcement agents from Orange and Los Angeles counties have arrested four people suspected of possessing approximately $100,000 of stolen income-tax refund checks, officials said Friday.

The arrests and seizure of the federal checks at a Norwalk hotel parking lot capped a two-week investigation that originated with a tip to authorities in Orange County, according to Chief Assistant Dist. Atty. Maurice L. Evans.

Evans said that his office got involved after a law enforcement agency he declined to identify “made contact with one of the suspects.” That contact, he said, led to the arrests Thursday in the parking lot of a Sheraton hotel.

The arrests were made jointly by the state Department of Justice, the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department, the U.S. Postal Service and investigators of the Orange County district attorney’s office, according to Evans and Postal Inspector C. Tade.

Evans said that investigative reports would be forwarded to the U.S. attorney’s office in Los Angeles, adding that he expects charges of conspiracy to possess government property to be filed.

According to Evans, those arrested were: Nicholas Sterner, 42, of Los Angeles; Amelia Venida, of Los Angeles; Cordero Quiocho, 37, of El Monte; and Jose Lengson, 38, of Baldwin Park. Evans said that the four were in federal custody in Los Angeles.