Police charge pair
with forging checks
BY SUE M. MORGAN
Staff Writer
OLD BRIDGE — Two men who allegedly tried to cash checks totaling $4,000 on a non-existent business account now face several charges.
The men, from Manalapan and New York, were lodged at the Middlesex County Adult Correction Center, North Brunswick, said Detective Walt Decker, who arrested the suspects.
Dennis P. Hughes, 19, of Manalapan, accused of cashing a $1,500 check written on a now-closed account, was arrested last Thursday and charged with theft, theft by deception, possession of stolen property and forgery.
Louis A. Martire, 19, of Brooklyn, N.Y., was arrested Friday at a room where he was staying at the Freewood Acres Motel on Route 9 in Howell. Martire, who police said was unsuccessful in his attempt to cash a check for $2,500, was charged with forgery, theft, theft by deception and conspiracy.
Hughes, accompanied by Martire, reportedly presented a $1,500 check drawn on an account for Jersey Central Air-Conditioning and Heating Division, Manalapan, to a teller at Old Bridge Check Cashing, Englishtown Road, at about 9:30 a.m. May 19, police said.
Using his New Jersey driver’s license as identification, Hughes endorsed the back of the company’s check and presented it for payment as Martire stood by, according to the police report.
The pair left after Hughes was given the money, but Martire returned about 15 minutes later and presented a check for $2,500 drawn on the same company, police said. He reportedly indicated that because he did not have identification, he would make the check out to Hughes.
When the teller stated that she would call the company’s bank, Wachovia Bank, Martire left and got into a 1999 Mercury Tracer, where Hughes sat in the passenger seat, according to the report. The pair drove south on Englishtown Road, according to police.
The vehicle’s registration was subsequently traced to Hughes, who also uses an address on Fourth Street in South River, police said.
The teller was advised by a Wachovia representative that the air-conditioning and heating company’s account, formerly with First Fidelity Bank, a Wachovia predecessor, no longer existed. Detectives investigating the incident noted that signatures on the two checks did not match that of Jersey Central Air-Conditioning and Heating co-owner Donna Fata.
Fata told the Suburban she was aware of the incident. The account formerly with First Fidelity Bank in Manalapan was closed some years ago before that bank merged with Wachovia, she said.
Lt. Robert Weiss praised the detective bureau and particularly Decker for the quick apprehension of both suspects and recovery of funds.
Hughes was being held in lieu of $30,000 bail at the county jail, and Martire’s bail was set at $50,000 bail, police said.