Lansdale Man Files Police Report About Check Fraud, Only to Be Arrested for Check Fraud, Police Say

Keith Heffintrayer | North Penn Now•

A Lansdale man has been charged with two felony counts of forgery and a misdemeanor count of filing a false police report after he allegedly attempted to involve police in a check fraud scheme, only to have them identify him as the suspect.

Police were contacted in November by 55-year-old Pradip Das, of the 100 block of Jenkins Avenue, to take a report of check fraud. Das told investigators that he had been notified by Bank of America of a fraudulent withdrawal of $2,500 from his account, and they had opened a fraud investigation on his behalf. Das also made a complaint about a second account, however police said he was not at a monetary loss on that account.

A detective contacted Das several days later requesting his account number and bank statements to continue the investigation, but Das would not provide the information and instead claimed the detective needed to "prove [themselves]” by resolving the issue with the second account first, police said. Das repeatedly declined to provide the information, later saying, ‘You are not a computer. You cannot do two things at once. If you complete [the second investigation], I will give you the account information,” according to charging documents.

Police said Das returned to the station one month later and provided a different account of events, this time claiming he had deposited a $2,500 reimbursement check from a former employer and needed a police report for a fraud claim with his bank. Investigators contacted the bank and learned that no fraud claim had been made by Das, and that once the check had been deposited, it was moved several times through different accounts before finally being withdrawn as cash, according to the criminal complaint.

Further investigation determined that the check Das had deposited was fraudulent, and the issuing bank in Uvalde, TX informed police that the account does not match any of their customer records, the report states.

In response to a request for clarification, police told North Penn Now that the investigation allegedly uncovered what has become an increasingly common check fraud scheme involving a person knowingly depositing a fraudulent check into their account, moving the money to another account, withdrawing it, then contacting their bank and police claiming to be a victim of fraud when the check is determined to be fraudulent. The goal of the scheme is to secure a police report, provide it to the bank, and then have the bank reimburse them via fraud protection, police said.

If successfully executed, the scheme would provide the suspect with the initial funds, which were deposited, moved, and withdrawn, and then again via the fraud claim, according to police.

Charges were ultimately filed against Das on Jan. 10, and he was subsequently arrested and arraigned on Jan. 17, at which point he was freed on $5,000 unsecured bail. His next court appearance is a preliminary hearing on March 6 at 12:30 p.m. in front of Magisterial District Judge Ed Levine.

All suspects and defendants are innocent until proven guilty. This story was compiled using public court records.