A 45-year-old man has been indicted for allegedly stealing the identities of nearly two dozen Coloradans and then using them to pass fake checks in 10 Colorado counties.
Named in the state grand-jury indictment is Timothy Kuskowski.
He reportedly cashed the forged checks at retail stores in Eagle, Fremont, Garfield, Grand, Gunnison, Jefferson, Mesa, Montrose, Summit and Teller counties.
According to the grand jury, Kuskowski went on his crime spree between December 2007 and June 2008, cashing checks ranging from $40 up to $747. He cashed checks totaling more than $24,000 during that period, the grand jury found.
The Avon Police Department, which assisted investigators from the Colorado attorney general’s office, used store-surveillance footage, fingerprint comparisons and forensic-document examinations in its investigation.
Kuskowski was arrested in Delta in June while trying to pass a fraudulent check at a City Market store.
According to the indictment, Kuskowski began passing the checks on Dec. 30, 2007, with many of them cashed at City Market, King Soopers and Wal-Mart outlets.
Investigators said a review of “the plethora of checks” passed at City Market and King Soopers stores showed that many were made to appear as if they were payroll checks from businesses that were payable to an individual. Sometimes, the individuals listed on the checks were real people, while other names were fictitious. Some checks were created to appear as if they were from personal bank accounts belonging to individual account holders.
When he was arrested in Delta by the Delta Police Department, officers found that Kuskowski had multiple ID cards and numerous forged checks.
Howard Pankratz: 303-954-1939 or hpankratz@denverpost.com
