A St. Louis man has been charged with forging thousands of dollars’ worth of checks in Jefferson City.
Terrell Matiella, 41, is charged with two counts of felony forgery.
Matiella cashed a forged check Dec. 10 at Jefferson Bank on West Truman Boulevard, according to a Jefferson City Police Department probable cause statement. The check for more than $8,200 was made to look like it had been issued by the victim to Matiella.
The forged check had the correct information on it, making it look authentic. Matiella provided his name and driver’s license during the transaction at the bank, and bank video reportedly shows him cashing the check.
A few minutes after cashing this check, authorities said, Matiella took a second forged check to Jefferson Bank on Eastland Drive. Again, the check — this one for more than $8,100 — had the correct information.
When Matiella attempted to cash the check, the bank employee called the phone number on the account to tell the owner of the account that their checking account was overdrawn. The person the employee called authorized a transfer from a savings account to cover the check Matiella had presented.
A day later, the victim went to the main branch of Jefferson Bank on Southwest Boulevard to inquire about his account. It was learned someone had posed as the victim, so the victim had the phone number on his checks changed. The imposter had also provided the last four digits of the victim’s Social Security number as well as his age.
Authorities later learned the victim had sent a personal check to a business in the 900 block of Diamond Ridge. Police records show the mailbox to this business had been broken into between Nov. 26 and Dec. 2, and a number of personal checks were stolen.