Bank Employees Head Off Scam, Police Say

On any other day, bank manager Cheryl Chavez and teller Maria Morris could have been accused of bad customer service: The duo used every trick in the ledger to delay a hefty withdrawal by a customer in his 70s.

On Tuesday, however, Washington Mutual employees Chavez and Morris helped sheriff’s deputies arrest three people who allegedly tried to con customer Gilbert Polaco, 75, into withdrawing $25,000 to buy what he was told was a lottery ticket worth $136,000.

In the process, Sheriff’s Deputy Robert Rush said, the bank employees may have alerted authorities to a larger statewide crime ring.

Justino Muchado, 54, of Palmdale, Pricilla Baldarama, 25, of Azusa, and Romulo Urbina, 72, whose hometown was unknown, were arrested in the parking lot of a Staples store on Valley Central Way, Rush said.

All three were booked on suspicion of attempted grand theft and jailed in lieu of $1 million bail each, Rush said. They will be arraigned today.

Rush said the Sheriff’s Department was flooded on Wednesday with calls and faxes from law enforcement agencies and individuals across California who believe they have been scammed by the trio. He added that Urbina is a suspect in another con in Riverside County.

“We don’t think they’re acting alone,” the deputy said. “It’s looking more and more like these three are part of something bigger.”

Morris said she became suspicious when Polaco mentioned buying a winning lottery ticket. Morris alerted Chavez and the two women tried to convince the customer that he was being tricked. But he wouldn’t budge, so Chavez called authorities.

“If the employees hadn’t called us, Mr. Polaco would have been duped out of a lot of money,” Rush said.

A deputy spoke with Polaco on the phone while the money was counted, to no avail.

“We tried to work a little slow until police were in the area,” Chavez said. “He was a little upset at me at first for getting the police involved.”

Morris managed to delay Polaco by paying out the $25,000 in $20 bills, giving deputies time to reach Polaco as he drove away from the bank on Avenue K near 12th Street West, Rush said. Polaco told the deputies that he had been approached earlier in the day by a man at a Wal-Mart.

Muchado allegedly told Polaco that he had a winning lottery ticket worth $136,000, but was unable to collect the money because he was in the United States illegally, Rush said.

*

Playing the role of a passerby, Baldarama allegedly backed up Muchado’s story by telephoning Urbina, who pretended to be a California Lottery official, Rush said, adding that Urbina told Baldarama the ticket was a winner.

It was not.

Polaco was allegedly told to bring $25,000 in good-faith money to the Wal-Mart, where he would split the lottery winnings with the other two men.

Chavez said Polaco indicated he would probably go to another bank to withdraw even more money for the transaction.

Once deputies convinced Polaco that he was involved in a scam, he agreed to cooperate, Rush said.

Muchado was arrested as he pulled into the parking lot, and Baldarama and Urbina were arrested nearby, according to Rush.

Deputies said they seized three phony bankrolls and two identical bags, which typically are used in bait-and-switch con games.