Suspect Arrested In Scam Using Stolen Money Orders

Police say they have arrested the leader of a ring that has cashed thousands of dollars worth of money orders stolen from the Tum Tum Post Office.

Dale D. Reed, arrested last weekend, doled out stacks of stolen money orders to a band of co-conspirators who attempted to cash them, police said. Reed offered to split proceeds from the scam with the accomplices, court papers say.

Since mid-May, thousands of dollars in forged money orders have turned up at banks and stores in Spokane, Newport, Wash., and Reno, Nev. All were taken from the Tum Tum office.

Someone made off with 53 money orders, cash and stamps from the Tum Tum Post Office on May 15.

One night later, the Elk Post Office north of Spokane had its windows smashed. A money order imprint machine was stolen.

Reed, 30, was arrested in Pend Oreille County. He has been charged with leading organized crime and trafficking in stolen property, both felonies. He is being held in the Pend Oreille County jail, awaiting a transfer to Spokane. His bail has been set at $100,000.

Sheriff’s Detective Mike Ricketts, with the assistance of Glen Porter, an inspector with the U.S. Postal Service, untangled the scheme.

Spokane prosecutor Ed Hay said he is not sure if additional charges will be filed.

Hay said the case is being watched by federal authorities because it involved post office thefts and government money orders.

Tom White, an investigator with the U.S. Postal Service in Seattle, said post office thefts are rare because little cash is kept there.

White would not discuss how the money orders and imprint machine were taken because it involves postal security. It’s also unclear how many bogus money orders were cashed, and for how much.

Post office customers are limited to buying $10,000 in money orders per day. Money orders are not issued in amounts greater than $700.

So the theft of 53 money orders from the Tum Tum post office could have been worth up to $37,100, if all had been cashed at the $700 limit.

The path that led authorities to Reed began to emerge late last month, when a Spokane Police Department officer arrested Leslie J. Dutt on forgery charges.

Dutt told detectives that Reed provided him with a stack of 10 money orders and offered to split the proceeds if Dutt could cash them by opening bank accounts and making withdrawals, police said.

Court papers say Dutt cashed five of the money orders at Bank of America in downtown Spokane, receiving $2,900.

He then tried to cash five more at a U.S. Bank branch, but ran off when the teller took too long, according to court documents. He was arrested a short time later.

Tips and further investigation led police to five others possibly involved in the forgery ring.

One participant who received the money order imprinter from Reed told police in mid-June it was ditched behind a Dumpster at a car wash on the Sunset Highway.

Investigators found the machine the following day.

Other locations where fake money orders were passed include several Farmers & Merchants Bank branches, as well as the Kmart on East Sprague.