Monroe Police charge four as identity thieves in three separate cases

Monroe - Monroe Village Police have charged four people in recent but unrelated cases as identity thieves. According to Det. James Frankild, here’s how the cases unfolded: Case one In February, a Monroe resident reported to police that over the past few months he had noticed several unauthorized withdrawals from his checking account. Police began an investigation which involved a number of subpoenas going out to different financial institutions and eventually developed a suspect. On May 26, police arrested Chaim Surkis, 22, of Spring Valley, and charged him with a number of crimes relating to identity theft and larceny. What happened, Frankild said, was that the victim had mailed a check which never made it to its intended destination and ended up in the post office box of Surkis. Police said he used the check’s routing and account numbers to make phone payments to a number of credit cards that he possessed. He was released and will have his case heard in local court at a later date. Case two On April 29, an employee at a local bank called Monroe Police to advise that a man had just attempted to pass a counterfeit check, but walked out when confronted by the teller. Officers responded but were not able to locate the man. Video surveillance was reviewed and a flier was sent out to other law enforcement agencies requesting help in identifying the man. On May 20, Monroe police received a similar flier from the Southampton Police Department in Suffolk County, announcing the arrests of three men for passing counterfeit checks at a bank in that community. Recovered in the car were numerous counterfeit ID’s and forged checks. Monroe Police said one of the three men charged in the Long Island case had used a similar counterfeit ID at the bank on Long Island as he had in Monroe. His photo, police said, also rang true. On June 9, Monroe officers went to Suffolk County Jail and arrested Lawrence Flores, 34, of the Bronx. Flores, who police said is also a registered sex offender and a convicted felon, was brought back to Monroe where he was processed at Monroe headquarters and arraigned and sent back to Suffolk County Jail. He will face charges relating to identity theft and larceny. “In addition, we contacted several other police agencies in our area and made them aware that he committed similar crimes in their jurisdiction and they will also be filing similar charges,” Frankild said. Case three Then on Friday, June 3, Monroe Police received a complaint from two local banks about counterfeit checks being passed at their branches. Alerts were put out and suspects were found in Washingtonville where police said they attempting to pass a counterfeit check at a bank. Jadarius Simmons, 25, of New York City, and a 17-year-old were charged with grand larceny and attempted grand larceny, forgery and possession of forged instruments and other charges related to identity theft. “There are numerous tips online to help people prevent identity theft,” Frankild said. “People should take time, go online and review them, and see where they may be lax.” Educate yourself To find out more, visit the Web site of the Federal Trade Commission’s Web site on “Fighting back against Identity theft at www.ftc.gov/bcp/edu/microsites/idtheft/consumers/index.html