Police accuse man of using counterfeit checks bearing Pine builder's name to steal cash

A man from Altoona is accused of using fake bank checks bearing the name of a Pine building contractor to get more than $5,200 in cash.

David Clark Modrey, 36, of 6th Ave., was charged by the Northern Regional Police Department with one count of felony theft by deception and four counts of forgery, according to a criminal complaint.

Charges were filed on Feb. 15 but a preliminary hearing has not yet been scheduled before District Judge William Wagner because Modrey is not yet in custody, according to court personnel.

Police said the owner of the building company contacted them on Feb. 11 to report that several of his business checks had been altered and cashed, according to a criminal complaint.

The man told police that he was contacted by Westbanco after someone tried to cash one of his checks at a branch in Mt. Lebanon on two occasions, the complaint said.

He said copies of the checks that were illegally cashed had the same sequence of numbers as checks he previously had written out to companies, but those were for significantly higher amounts.

The fake checks were written out to Modrey and were signed with a signature that appeared to be a match for the building company’s owner, police said.

The businessman told police he did not know how someone was able to get his bank account numbers and create counterfeit checks, the complaint said.

Westbanco officials provided police with copies of the canceled checks, the photo identification Modrey gave tellers when he cashed the checks and photos from security videos they say showed him in the bank, according to his arrest papers.

Bank officials told investigators that they did not know why the bank’s check processing system did not flag the counterfeit checks as duplicates, noting that the fakes “did not even look like the originals,” the complaint said.

Police said Modrey cashed a check for $1,717.60 at the Westbanco branch in Ambridge on Feb. 10 that originally was made out to and cashed by 84 Lumber for $47,049.

Less than half an hour later, police say, Modrey cashed another check for $1,717.60 at the Hopewell branch that was originally made out and cashed for $47,054, the complaint said.

Police also accused Modrey of cashing a check for 1,817.60 at the Westbanco branch on Washington Road in Mt. Lebanon on Feb. 11.

A short time later, police said, Modrey was turned away when he tried to cash a fraudulent check for $1,917 at the branch on Beverly Road in Mt. Washington.

An arrest warrant was issued after authorities learned that Modrey “has several outstanding warrants and open investigations regarding similar activity,” police wrote in the complaint charging him.