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 White Plains, NY - The Westchester County District Attorney's office announced that Investigators from the Westchester County District Attorneys office along with agents from the United States Department of Homeland Security – Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and with assistance from the Harrison Police Department and White Plains Police Department arrested eleven individuals as part of a counterfeit check cashing ring operating in Westchester County.
Charged are:
JAVIER PEDRAZA RAMIREZ, (28) unknown address
JAVIER CORONA CRUZ, (20) unknown address
RAMOND MENDOZA SOLIZ, (38) unknown address
MARTIN GOMEZ PEDRAGA, (23) unknown address
JORGE MARTINEZ, (23) unknown address
GALDINO MENDOZA, (24) unknown address
LUIS ANTONIO MONTEZ, (24) unknown address
ELIAZAR BORAZA, (26) unknown address
FREDDY RAMIREZ TORRES, (25) unknown address
DAVID DELAVEGA , (42) unknown address
DANIEL GONZALES, (24) unknown address
All are charged with:
One count of Grand Larceny in the Third Degree,
One Count of Criminal Possession of a Forged Instrument in the Second Degree,
One Count of Conspiracy in the Fifth Degree.
On July 17th, 2008, at approximately 9:00 am, in the vicinity of 76 Waller Avenue in White Plains, investigators observed numerous male Hispanics enter a red Chevrolet van with Michigan license plates which then drove from the vicinity of 76 Waller Avenue to the Community Mutual Savings Bank located at 29 Taylor Square, Harrison, New York.
The van parked in the area of the bank and was used as a staging point for the defendants as they entered and exited the bank, two or three at a time, changing clothes in between bank transactions.
Inside the bank, the defendants approached various tellers and presented them with numerous payroll checks from the Westchester Hills Landscaping Company, Inc.
The tellers proceeded to cash approximately 29 checks totaling approximately $18,458.26.
The checks that were negotiated at the Community Mutual Bank are counterfeit checks because the names of the employees stated on the checks are not employees of the company.
At that point, the defendants were placed under arrest.
Their arraignments are pending.
Their next court date will be in Harrison Town Court tomorrow.
They face a maximum of seven years in prison on the top count.
Assistant District Attorney Gwendolyn Galef, Acting Chief of the Economic Crimes Bureau and Assistant District Attorney Nicole Gamble of the Economic Crimes Bureau will prosecute the case.
In compliance with Disciplinary Rule 7-107A of the Code of Professional Responsibility, you are advised that a charge is merely an accusation and that a defendant is presumed innocent until and unless proven guilty.
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