A Connecticut man was arrested Tuesday and charged with cashing forged checks totaling more than $7,000 at three bank branches in Berks County.
Christopher Cannizzaro, 63, of Stamford was arraigned before District Judge Kyley L. Scott in Reading Central Court on charges of forgery, identity theft, theft by deception and receiving stolen property.
Cannizzaro was committed to Berks County Prison in lieu of $75,000 bail.
According to court documents:
Cannizzaro went to the First National Bank branch in the 600 block of East Lancaster Avenue in Cumru Township around 12:15 p.m. on Tuesday.
He cashed a $2,950 check using a fake driver’s license card from North Carolina, then in a second transaction tried to withdraw more than $7,000 from a bank account belonging to the man whose name was on the license.
The teller noticed that two other checks had been cashed using the account earlier that day at two other bank branches in Berks, each for more than $2,000. The two other branches were not identified in court papers.
The teller grew suspicious and asked Cannizzaro for further identification, including his First National Bank credit card.
Cannizzaro left before completing the second transaction. The teller kept the driver’s license.
Cumru police found Cannizzaro a short time later at a nearby store. They confirmed that he was not the man whose name appeared on the driver’s license and that the account he was using did not belong to him.