Colorado Check Kiting Suspect Arrested In Houston
DENVER (AP) - A man accused of running bank fraud rings in Colorado and Maryland has been arrested in Texas.
Colorado authorities announced Wednesday that 43-year-old Francisco Alfonso Chavez Diaz was arrested June 30 at a Houston hotel and will be returned to Colorado to face charges.
Investigators say the ring opened bank accounts with small deposits in metro Denver using passports from El Salvador. They later allegedly inflated the balances of the accounts by depositing fraudulent checks. Diaz then allegedly accessed the money using ATMs or debit cards before the checks were returned for insufficient funds.
The district attorney for suburban Jefferson County, Scott Storey, says the banks lost over $27,000 on the accounts.
Authorities believe the other members of the alleged ring have returned to El Salvador.
(Copyright 2011 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
