Theft of Tax Payments to L.A. County Investigated : Fraud: Banks block three checks altered so that they were made out to ‘cash,’ but three others slip through. Taxpayers end up delinquent on their bills.

Sheriff’s fraud detectives are investigating half a dozen cases in which property tax checks sent to Los Angeles County appear to have been altered and made out to “cash.”

Most of the checks were less than $1,000, but one was $7,700.

Three of the apparently altered checks were detected by bank officials, who refused to cash them. But the other three were cashed, resulting in the taxpayers losing the money and being delinquent on their property bills and assessed penalties.

The Sheriff’s Department is investigating whether county employees may be responsible; there are no suspects.

As the investigation proceeds, Kent Condon is one of those who finds himself caught up in this strange taxpayer’s nightmare, which in his case centers on a canceled $675.39 check.

Condon, a 58-year-old Riverside County businessman, said his misadventure began in December, shortly after he mailed two property tax checks for two homes he owns in the San Fernando Valley.

One check, for $431.05, was cashed by the tax collector and returned with county identification numbers printed on it--no problem. But the other check, he said, had been altered.

A stamp on the back indicated it was cashed Dec. 30 at a Walnut bank, three weeks after Condon mailed it. On the back, someone had scrawled an account number and a signature, of which only a large looping “J” is legible.

Condon said he was stunned. “I thought, ‘Hey, wait a minute, what is this?”

In the space marked “Pay to the order of”--in which Condon said he had typed “L.A. County Tax Collector”--was the word cash and a line of asterisks.

“They lifted it off with a typewriter correcting ribbon,” he said. “With my magnifying glass I could see L.A. County Tax Collector written on the check.”

The aggravation was only beginning, Condon said. The money from the altered check had already been deducted from his account. Soon afterward, he received a notice from the tax collector advising him that his tax payment was delinquent. A penalty had been imposed.

From his office in Palm Desert, he called the tax collector in downtown Los Angeles but was repeatedly placed on hold. Finally, he called the Riverside County Sheriff’s Department, which notified Los Angeles County authorities.

“I’ve lived here 50 years and this is the first time anything like this has happened to me,” Condon said. “I’m the victim. I thought, ‘Everything is fine, the taxes are paid.’ Now I’m sitting here and I still owe the county money.”

Joseph Spillane, the county tax compliance auditor, said officials are awaiting the conclusion of the investigation before deciding whether taxpayers will be required to pay the taxes or penalties in any of the cases.

He said the problem appears to be a relatively minor one, involving just a handful of the 1.5 million property tax checks processed by the county each year. “It’s important to keep this in perspective,” he said.

Spillane said there is no evidence at this time that county employees were involved. “Currently, we have no case where we can substantiate any inappropriate action in our office,” he said.

Sheriff’s Detective Early Lincoln said the department’s Forgery Fraud Detail is looking into Condon’s case as part of its inquiry.