Inglewood Blames Bank for Cashing Stolen Checks : Theft: Council votes to close Wells Fargo account in dispute over missing $1.35 million. Bank says city should have read its statements.

The Inglewood City Council decided Tuesday to close its $50-million account with Wells Fargo Bank, blaming the bank for cashing 10 checks that had been stolen from City Hall and made out for more than $1.35 million over a five-month period.

“Our confidence in Wells Fargo has been destroyed,” said City Manager Paul Eckles. “Wells Fargo is acknowledging no responsibility in the matter.”

The council also decided to file suit against the bank to recover the lost money.

Inglewood police detectives and the FBI have been investigating the case since June and at least one arrest has been made, city officials said. However, neither agency would disclose details of the case or identify the person arrested.

City officials said the 10 checks, all cashed between November and March, were written for amounts ranging from $50,000 to $374,548, for a total of $1,358,761.

Wells Fargo spokeswoman Kim Kellogg said the city was negligent because it did not spot the withdrawals in its bank statements.

“If they had been reading their monthly statements, they would have noticed those checks,” Kellog said in a telephone interview from San Francisco, where Wells Fargo is headquartered.

City officials said a bank error--$1 million that was not properly transferred between city funds--made it difficult for auditors to notice the drain on city accounts.

The city’s valid checks require three facsimile signatures--those of the city treasurer, the finance director and the mayor. Officials said the checks cashed by Wells Fargo all had handwritten signatures, none of which were those of city officials.

Councilman Jose Fernandez, who said he plans to cancel his personal accounts at the bank, called Wells Fargo’s check-verification procedures “inadequate and unprofessional.”