2 accused of cashing checks and money orders taken from Giant Eagle pharmacy deposit bags

Two Allegheny County men, including one charged with homicide, are accused of intercepting $4,800 in checks and money orders paid by Giant Eagle pharmacy customers, according to court papers.

Preliminary hearings are set for next month on charges of conspiracy and receiving stolen property against Adelin M. Itongwa, 23, of Monroeville, and Mohamud R. Muya, 23, of Pittsburgh. Itongwa faces an additional theft count and Muya also is charged with forgery.

Westmoreland County detectives were contacted by Giant Eagle officials who reported that six deposit bags were missing between September and December from pharmacies in Ligonier and Hempfield, according to court papers. Deposit bags, which contain checks and money orders, are taken by couriers from pharmacies to a warehouse and then Giant Eagle offices where they are processed.

Police learned Itongwa had been the assigned driver for the route during the time of the thefts, according to court papers. When Allegheny County police searched his Monroeville apartment Feb. 20 in connection with a homicide, they spotted one of the deposit bags, according to court papers.

Detectives said they later confiscated it and Itongwa admitted to taking the deposit bags and giving the checks and money orders to Muya. Twenty-seven customer checks issued to Giant Eagle were deposited into a bank account and 19 Western Union money orders were cashed, according to court papers.

Itongwa told investigators he and Muya split the cash.

Both suspects were arraigned in the past week. Muya is free on his own recognizance. Itongwa’s bail was set at $30,000. Neither had an attorney listed in online court records.

Itongwa was charged in Allegheny County last month in the fatal shooting of the mother of their child. He is accused in the Feb. 9 death of Ramiah Griffin in a Baldwin Borough apartment.