Compton Campus Print Shop Probed : Police: Authorities are investigating whether community college’s facilities were used to prepare forged blank checks and birth certificate forms.

Police are investigating whether Compton College’s print shop was used in a counterfeiting operation that produced reams of forged documents, including paychecks, birth certificates and letterhead for foreign embassies.

According to sources, investigators found inked plates to produce checks that would draw on the accounts of counties in North Carolina and Virginia.

Police Chief Hourie Taylor and college President Byron Skinner confirmed that a criminal investigation is under way.

Skinner said he entered the shop during Memorial Day weekend after receiving a complaint that the printing facilities might be being misused.

He said he found documents that, while probably not counterfeits, had nothing to do with college business--such as wedding invitations. Skinner notified police and further investigation found the apparently bogus documents.

“The fact is there were things in my print shop that shouldn’t have been there,” Skinner said. “Whether they were illegal or not, I can’t say. The investigation will tell us that.”

The print shop was shut down last week with yellow crime scene tape blocking the entrance. The shop reopened this week, and employees were busily printing programs for the two-year college’s graduation Friday.

While the print shop was closed, school administrators and investigators pulled out several boxes of printed materials, said one source close to the investigation who asked to remain anonymous.

The boxes contained blank Los Angeles County birth certificates, completed stationery for at least two foreign embassies and metal plates to create the bank checks, the source said. At least one set of printing plates bore signs of ink, meaning some checks had probably been printed, the source said. Officials at the counties involved could not be reached for comment Tuesday on whether they had any recent problems with unauthorized withdrawals.

Concert tickets for a Long Beach event were found, along with evidence that someone had begun the separation process necessary to duplicate the tickets.

The print shop also contained several stacks of political flyers supporting candidates in nearby cities, according to sources.

The print shop at the 5,300-student Compton campus is similar to many at the public community colleges. College print shops reproduce tests, course outlines, campus newsletters and other college-related documents.

There are two full-time employees in the Compton College shop, who were both at work this week, Skinner said.

“All I can tell you is we are conducting an investigation,” Taylor said. “It would be premature to say anything else.”