More than 30 threatening letters mailed from Amarillo, Texas, have been received by Chase banks and other financial institutions in eight states in the past two days, including two letters received today at Chase banks in Aurora and Westminster, according to bank officials and federal investigators.
Law-enforcement authorities said today that threatening letters had been mailed to financial institutions in Colorado, Georgia, New York, New Jersey, Texas, Oklahoma, Ohio, Illinois and the District of Columbia.
Mary Jane Rogers, spokeswoman for Chase banks, said that the letters were postmarked in Amarillo, Texas. She said they were sent to 10 Chase banks in Colorado, three in Oklahoma, nine in New Jersey and to the Chase credit-card center in Elgin, Ill.
FBI agent Mark White, spokesman for the FBI office in Dallas, said more banks than Chase have been targeted.
He said that the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. in Dallas and the U.S. Office of Thrift Supervision in nearby Irving, Texas, also received threatening letters with a white powdery substance today.
“Testing on the powder substance has thus far been negative,” said White. “Additional testing will be completed.”
Kathy Wright, spokeswoman for the FBI in Denver, said one threatening letter was received today at the Chase branch at 3093 104th Ave. in Westminster and another at the Chase bank at 3501 S. Tower Road in Aurora.
Both contained white powder and a threatening note, said Wright.
“The FBI, U.S. postal inspectors, and state and local authorities are investigating a series of letters sent to banks around the country,” said Special Agent Richard Kolko, spokesman for the Federal Bureau of Investigation in Washington.
“These threat letters contain a powder substance. At this point, field tests on the powder have been negative. Additional testing will be completed,” said Kolko.
He said that sending a hoax letter is a serious crime.
“The FBI and postal inspectors are responding to each of these incidents,” said Kolko. “This is a serious crime. It is a tremendous drain on resources.”
He said that between January 2007 and August 2008, there had been 900 such incidents around the country and that the FBI had been able to solve many of the threats. “Our guys are good at this,” said Kolko.
Gary Johnson, spokesman for the FBI in Oklahoma City, said that the letters received in Oklahoma “basically indicated that the person who opened the letter was going to die.”
Johnson also said that the writer indicated the letters were in response to “an action the bank may have taken.”
In Elgin, two envelopes containing white powder and threatening notes arrived today and Monday night at the massive Chase credit-card processing center 40 miles west of Chicago, according to Elgin officials.
One envelope was cut open by a machine at the facility at about 5 p.m. Monday, causing the white powder to fly around the room, according to Sgt. Brad Entler, the Elgin Police Department’s coordinator of emergency management.
A similar envelope, containing the same postmark and similar threatening note, arrived at about 10:42 a.m. today, said Entler.
Entler declined to reveal the exact content of the notes other than saying they conveyed a message of a “threatening nature.”
Greg Benson, a battalion chief with the Elgin Fire Department, said the incidents there were contained to the facility’s mailroom.
Benson said that there have been several similar incidents at the Chase credit-card facility in recent years involving threatening letters and white powder.
“Not everyone is happy with paying their credit-card bills,” said Benson.
He said that on Monday afternoon, employees “self-decontaminated” with soap and water and that medical evaluations conducted both last night and today showed that they were not harmed by the powder.
Benson said initial field tests indicated that the powder was “benign.”
The envelopes, notes and white powder are being turned over to the FBI, and further testing will be done at the Illinois Department of Public Health.
The developments in Illinois followed a rash of threatening letters and white powder that arrived at Chase banks in Oklahoma and Colorado on Monday.
A total of eight letters were received Monday at Chase branches in the Denver area: 9379 Sheridan Blvd.; 16746 E. Smoky Hill Road; 3300 Colorado Blvd; 100 Detroit St.; 1760 16th St.; 14417 W. Colfax Ave.; 8015 Kipling St.; and 12860 W. Alameda Parkway.
Two similar letters were received Monday in Oklahoma City and one in nearby Norman.
In the Westminster incident today, both the Westminster fire and police departments went to the Chase bank at 3093 104th Avenue at 9:13 a.m. Seven people were quarantined in the bank as the fire department’s hazardous materials team tested the white powder.
Diana Allen, spokeswoman for the fire department, said the substance tested negative for biological, organic or radiological material.
Jojan Henderson, spokeswoman for the U.S. Postal Inspection Service in Denver, said there were no new developments in the ongoing investigation as to who sent the letters.
Kolko said those with information about the rash of threatening letters should contact the FBI, the Postal Inspection Service or local authorities. He said that anyone having information also can visit to submit a tip.
Howard Pankratz: 303-954-1939 or hpankratz@denverpost.com
