The Times-Tribune from Scranton, Pennsylvania • 9

Oft, ft ft 1 a 9 If i I I i ifF ui 5 ft i' A-9 SUNDAY TIMES, FEBRUARY 18, 1973. Flood Blamed markets. Owners of the Drger stare i art attempting to craik down, and some have succeeded by installing cameras which record on film the Image of every person who passes through a Checkout line. Vthile forging atulen checks teems to be about th most popular fora of bilking the banka, Mr, Loughlm said, there are some would be criminals who shy away from th penalUea involved five to 10 years in jail and flO.ooo fine. Those people, he said, lean more toward simple ruse such as establishing a check Ing account of their own under a fictitious name and address, flooding the area 1m mediately with the 10 starter rhecki they receive, and then leaving th state.

Since such aa offense is only misdemeanor, he explained, persons involved tn such a scheme esn not be es-Lr a dited from another state checks may ho cashed wuh proper tdenUficaUon, point to connection wuh the drug problem here. In an effort to head off the had chetk onslaught, tome I banka tft Northeastern Pennsylvania Jumrd together year a as the Northern Anthra-c i I Bankers AssociaUum, Through that ftrgaaiiaUuft, when on hank gets report of stale or tost checks, th security offleft there prepare report and contacts several other hanks, which In turn contact others. Thus, In matter of bourt all a banka have been notified of the possibility of aa attempt to pass th stolen checks, cases where an important alert I involved, the alert goes through the Pennsylvania Bankers Association, and all of Pennsylvania'! 500 banka are notified The system ha had a marked effect on the forgery problem, and has resulted in a number of arrests, two at Northeaster National In the past few years and tan arrests her in the past decade of rnmiaals wanted ail ever the country. But the system due have its drawbacks ft thief decides to hold won checks lor several weeks er months, for instance, without cashing them, then tt often becomes relatively simple fur turn to slip check by ft teller who may have had a number of alert in the meantime For that reason, Mr. Lough-Un says, persons or business firm which report checks lost or stolen are urged to close out their old account and open a new on But hanks often are not the only victim of the had check racket In fact, supermarket have become even more popular than banks for forger who dont mind cashing checks in relatively small amounts, and some 4 per cent of all forged and stolen chrok are passed In such and cashed, often by persons sing tdenuficauoa documents which alse had been discarded.

Bank personnel ksva been warned to use rautioe when cashing check iuf strangers who hsv account with hanks in the Good areas, hut it is believed that the checks may now be spread over aev-era! states and that a Hem pis to cash them may he made tar the neat several months. The security officer plained that it ia often possible to cash such checks in any hank since many carry a business nama and can be passed off as payroll checks. Aside from checks retrieved from th flood area, Mr. loughlm said, there have been an unusual number of instance where checks often along wuh some sort of identification have been stolen from homes or from public placet where women leave purses unguarded or men re move their Jacket Thefts such it those, plus the ease with which (urged ha the hanks and their euw tamers of millions annually. Mr.

Loughim, a veteran of 23 years with the PennsyW vanu State Police before tak-tng over the security opera ttaa at Northeastern National, eaplaini that ainco Jan. three weeks ago aome 11 alerts have been seta out over statewide hank hotline" system regarding stolen or forged checks By comparison, he said, only about 3u0 such alerts were sent out in the decade he hat been associated wuh the bank. Mr. Loughlm and other security officials here point to a wealth of discarded identification documents and checks in the Good damaged Wyoming Valley aa one possible cause of the sudden upswing in forgeries and had checks. In fact, Mr.

Loughlm declared, a number of banks already have reported Instance where checks discarded ss useless after the flood have been retrieved, forged JAM II HINNIOAH Jtmday Tlmt Wrf1r Bank security officials her and eleber across the ute art wet king overtime in aft attempt to item ft fk of furred or stales rhecki otueh has a tiled is the part several weeks to stagrrlnf proportions. There are Indie a tinea that the problem may be related either directly or Indirectly both to recootrueUoa work in the Good damaged Wyoming Valley and to a steadily wur-ternng drug problem here At least that 'a the feeling of many local security officials whose responsibility tt is to hold duoa the huge losses which must be written off each year to forgertea. The magnitude of the problem waa outlined for The Sunday limes by Jamei V. Loughlm, vice president us charge of the security at Northeastern National Bank of Pennsylvania and a leader in the fight to crack down on eon arUsta and forgers who Banks Uniting In War Against Check Forgers Men Sportcoats Reg. 34.9J.

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Sen. Joseph R. Biden Scranton native and youngest member of the Senate has accepted an invitation to be principal lay speaker at the 78th annual dinner of the Friendly Son of St. Patrick of Lackawanna County, Dr. John A.

Quinn, president, announced today. The dinner will be Saturday, March 17th, at the Casey Inn. Dr. Quinn aaid Sen. Biden, who spent his early years in the Green Ridge section, was invited to address the Friendly Sons following his upset election victory in Delaware in November over former U.

S. Sen. J. Caleb Boggs, a Republican who was seeking a third term. Sen.

Biden had indicated previously his willingness to appear as speaker but it was feared that he might change his plans after the death of hi wife, Neilia Hunter Biden, 30, and daughter, Amy, 18 months, in ft car-truck collision in Delaware the following month, Dr, Quinn aaid. Hi ions, Joseph R. Ill, four, and Robert three, were Injured In the mishap. However, Sen. Biden contacted Dr.

Quinn in January and confirmed that he would be happy to return to hi former hometown to be with the Friendly Sons, Dr. Quinn explained. gen- Biden was only 29 when elected to the Senate and did not reach the minimum age of 30 to qualify him to until last Nov. 20. He is the son of Joseph R.

and Gene Finnegan Biden, who formerly resided at 2446 N. Washington Ave. and now livts in Wilmington, where the senator practices law and had served as councilman, He is a grandosn of th elate Ambrose and Geraldine Ble-witi Finnegan of this city and a nephew of John Finnegan, 1351 Penn Ave. Sen Biden attended St. Pauls Parochial School and was in the fifth igrade when the family moved to Delaware.

$en. Biden was graduated from the University of Delaware and Syracuse University Law School, he was elected to the New Castle County Council in 1970 at the age of 27. His great-grandfather, the late Edward J. Blewitt, served as ft state senator from Lackawanna County, and his great-great-grandfather, Patrick Blewitt, was an engineer who planned many of the streets in Scran-ton. Quinn said other principals of the banquet program will be announced shortly.

John Marion, Archbald, is vice president and president-elect of the Friendly Sons. Other officers are William Cullen secretary; Atty. Frank J. McDonnell, treasurer; Edward J. Gerrity, Paul A.

Barrett, assistant secretary, and Thomas G. Gallagher as-. slitant treasurer. Algae Used as Mop WATERLOO, Ont. (API-Met ft 1 pollution can be cleared from samll lakes by using algae as a natural mop, a University of Toronto botanist maintains.

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