In Illinois and Elsewhere Fraudulent checks on the rise as economy dives
By Chris Coates
A few months ago, someone walked into the BP Station at South Buchanan and East Schwarz streets in Edwardsville, handed the clerk a fake check and left with $12 worth of stolen merchandise.
Only later did the worker realize the transaction was bunk, leaving station owner Jill Essner to saddle the cost. She opted to not call police.
"It was just $12," said Essner, who estimates her store has been hit with two bad checks since the fall. "I didn't even have time to follow up."
While hardly a capital offense, the con against Essner is a small piece in a growing trend that's bilking an increasing number of local retailers and small business owners out of thousands of dollars in illegally purchased goods.
Because they're often used to cover small purchases and many businesses don't report to police, statistics on the number of bounced, doctored or just plain fake checks are unreliable. But Madison County State's Attorney William A. Mudge said the trend is not only real, it's growing in popularity, most recently because of a crumbling economy that's made passing off forged checks seem all too easy.
"Every year, the number increases, but now it's in part due to the economy," he said.
At the same time, the amount of felony retail cases have jumped, statistics from November show, Mudge said. "And I'm assuming the numbers will be up for December, too," he said.
The increase has tacked on more work for police and prosecutors, along with providing a steady stream of clients for the county's Bad Check Restitution Program.
The 11-year-old program has collected more than $2.1 million in restitution for merchants mostly by allowing crooks caught passing fake checks to repay businesses and take classes instead of facing more serious charges.
About 600 caught passing bad checks took the option last year, repaying about $250,000 in fees, according to statistics. The funds help businesses recoup losses and pay for the program.
The centerpiece, Mudge said, is the series of courses ran by American Credit Counseling Service Inc., a firm that deals with personal financial management. The classes help bad check passers keep tabs on funds and controlling spending, teaching them "better management skills of their money to avoid a repeat performance," Mudge said.
Usually, the class members span all ages and social backgrounds, from petty criminals to forgetful older people to checking account holders unversed in balancing funds. What a surprising number have in common is that they don't get caught again passing bad checks - the program claims a 4.3 percent recidivism rate.
"That's excellent," Mudge said. "It's been a great program."
The classes also help streamline the process and eliminate the cases from clogging up the judicial system, he said.
For businesses, the program helps reign in scofflaws, said Carol Foreman, executive director of the Edwardsville-Glen Carbon Chamber of Commerce.
"They're doing a lot of work there," she said. "We know about it."
As for Essner, the gas station owner, she said clerks there rarely accept checks and make sure to write drivers license numbers on stubs.
And for the crook who passed the bad check? Never entered the store again, Essner said.
"I was never able to collect," she said.
Got a bad check?
Madison County since 1998 has ran a Bad Check Restitution Program, which tracks down crooks who pass fake checks.
For more information, call Don Petrillo at 692-6280 or e-mail drpetrillo@co.madison.il.us.
Business owners and other victims can also contact their local police.
Online at http://www.madco-sa.org/bad-check-program.html
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