Crime & Safety

Two Charged in Check Fraud Scheme

One suspect opened a checking account in Willow Grove; suspects face felony forgery charges.

 

A Philadelphia-area man and woman are facing charges this month after police say they passed fraudulent checks and made withdrawals at more than half a dozen banks in Montgomery and Bucks counties.

Plymouth Police have charged both Dae Woo, 55, of Harleysville, and Young Miller, 57, of Philadelphia, with 26 criminal counts that include felony forgery and theft by deception.

In an affidavit of probable cause, police say they were first approached by a TD Bank corporate investigator, who had uncovered the alleged scheme, in late November. The investigator told police that he had been monitoring suspicious activity dating back to July 2012, when Woo allegedly opened a bank account in Willow Grove.

Although the affidavit does not explain how the pair were able to create fraudulent checks, they began to allegedly pass the checks at banks in Huntingdon Valley, Willow Grove, Jenkintown, Lansdale and Bensalem. They often used the fraudulent account name of "J.G. Realty and Investments," and would attempt to deposit checks with value in the thousands, police say.

Despite many of the checks returning as "unable to locate," and thus being discovered as using a fraudulent account number, the pair were able to make several withdraws while funds were temporarily available at banks in Plymouth Meeting and Feasterville, stealing about $7,600 over several days in September, police say.

Woo was arraigned before district judge Francis Bernhardt, III, and is currently awaiting a preliminary hearing while in Montgomery County prison in lieu of $10,000 bail. Court records show that Miller has not yet been brought into custody.


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