Authorities on Lookout for Bogus City Payroll Checks
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Authorities are on the lookout for fake Torrance city payroll checks after two were cashed at a San Pedro liquor store.
“If they went to the trouble of making up a check that looks authentic, they wouldn’t have made just a few,” Torrance Treasurer Thomas C. Rupert said. Police Detective Jeff Harris said he anticipates that more checks will surface.
Two men cashed the checks for $276 and $278 Saturday at Scheffler Liquor, 230 S. Gaffey St. But owner Phillip No said he rejected a third check a few hours later because the paper felt too thick.
The fake checks are printed with fictitious names for the Torrance mayor, clerk and treasurer. They also bear a logo resembling an upside-down Mercedes-Benz symbol, topped with the word “Opportunity”--a logo that Rupert said the city has never used.
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