Richland man charged in connection with $21K in forged checks from couple

A Richland man has been accused of using dozens of blank checks that were stolen to swindle more than $21,000 from a couple.

Luke Anthony Bodnar, 27, of the 5700 block of Meridian Road, was charged by Northern Regional Police with felony counts of forgery, theft, receiving stolen property, access device fraud, criminal use of of a communications facility and criminal attempt.

Bodnar was charged on Aug. 23. A preliminary hearing before District Justice Tom Swan has not yet been set, according to court records.

A warrant for Bodnar’s arrest has been issued, according to court officials. A defendant need not be in police custody for charges to be filed against them.

Police began investigating on May 2 after the couple’s son reported that sometime during April 2019, blank checks mailed to the home of his parents from PNC bank had been stolen, according to a criminal complaint.

The man told police that his father is suffering from the onset of dementia and that his mother has physical problems that limit her mobility, the complaint said.

The family provided police with copies of 29 canceled checks totaling $21,500 made out to Bodnar that investigators said had a forged signature endorsing them for payment.

The checks — most made out for either $100 or $1,000 — were deposited electronically into Bodnar’s account at Dollar Bank, police said.

Investigators got a search warrant for Bodnar’s records at Dollar Bank and determined that the signature he used to open the account matched the signature on the fraudulent checks that were endorsed and deposited into his account, the complaint said.

Police said Bodnar again tried to electronically deposit a $500 check into his account on July 18, but the bank halted the transaction because of the fraud investigation.

Bodnar, who does not have a lawyer listed in court documents, declined a request to speak with police about the case before the charges were filed, the complaint said.