Forger Uses Check Numbers From Schools So Far 19 Counterfeit Checks Returned To Cda District Office; Some Had Forged Signatures

Someone has forged checks for thousands of dollars with the Coeur d’Alene School District’s checking account number on them.

Gayle Vopat, school district treasurer, told the Coeur d’Alene Police Department that she first learned of the forged checks on May 20, when a U.S. Bank employee called and asked if the school district’s numbering system or forms had been changed.

The school district’s payroll checks are pink and the counterfeit checks are blue.

The bank employee told Vopat that someone was trying to cash a school district check at the Liberty Lake branch of U.S. Bank. The check had the school district’s checking account number on it but appeared to be a personal check. The bank did not clear the check.

The bank representative said she would notify bank security to deal with the problem.

Between May 5 and May 20, someone forged $3,077.95 worth of checks using the school district’s account number.

Vopat was reconciling the school district’s checking account last Wednesday when she discovered even more counterfeit checks had been cashed since she was called by U.S. Bank on May 20.

So far, 19 checks have been returned to Vopat’s office.

The businesses or banks that took some of the checks apparently had asked to see identification because there are driver’s license numbers and phone numbers written on the front or back, according to the police report. A couple of checks had inked thumb prints on them.

The counterfeit payroll checks, which require both Vopat’s and School Board President Wanda Quinn’s signatures, obviously were forged, according to a police report.

The forged signatures are different on each check, and Vopat told police that her and Quinn’s signatures are “digital” or “stamped” signatures on authentic school district checks.

FORGERIES Between May 5 and May 20, someone forged $3,077.95 worth of checks.