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Erhard woman accused of forging checks
Published 4:20pm Wednesday, April 6, 2011The Erhard woman accused of burglarizing a home while its owners slept could be in more trouble with the law: she now is an alleged check forger.
Amanda Marie Helmer, 24, was charged Tuesday with three felony counts of check forgery.
According to the criminal complaint, Helmer’s neighbor discovered on March 13 that several checks from his business checking account had been taken, forged and then used or cashed in the amount of $1,100. He told law enforcement that he suspected Helmer, as she had allegedly stolen things from his home in the past.
All of the checks had been used either at the Erhard municipal liquor store or at the Rothsay Truck Stop. Upon further investigation, the complaint stated, sheriff’s deputies learned from an employee at the liquor store that Helmer had been in with some of the forged checks and claimed they were from her employer.
Deputies also checked video camera footage from the Rothsay Truck Stop and saw a different man cashing the checks there. When confronted about it, the man, an acquaintance of Helmer’s, allegedly stated that she had told him that the checks were child support checks and that she could not cash them at the truck stop because she was not allowed inside.
On March 15, Helmer was interviewed by a sheriff’s deputy and allegedly admitted to forging the checks and getting money from them.
Helmer was recently charged with first degree burglary for allegedly entering a home in Erhard and taking some prescription drugs and a wallet. The wallet was allegedly taken from the bedroom where the home’s owners were sleeping at the time.
Tags: checking crime, Erhard
