By Tracie Sullivan, For Iron County Today
Police arrested two people Oct. 2 after they allegedly tried to steal nearly $9,000 from a Cedar City bank account in what officers described as part of a multistate fraud scheme.
Dawn Rachelle Gonzales, 60, and Ricardo Fluermond, 38, were booked into the Iron County Jail following a police response to the State Bank of Southern Utah on Interstate Drive.
According to charging documents filed by Cedar City police, investigators had received reports of a bank panic alarm and a suspicious woman who was allegedly impersonating a military member while trying to access someone else’s account and take out a loan.
The military identification card Gonzales presented had another person’s name, police said.
Similar attempts had also occurred earlier in the day in St. George and Hurricane.
Employees checked the account number the woman provided and determined she was not listed on the account.
They also recognized similarities to the earlier fraud attempts, according to the affidavit.
Officers arriving at the bank spotted a white Nissan sedan leaving the area that matched a vehicle description provided by employees following the Hurricane incident.
Police stopped the car and detained its driver, identified as Fluermond, of New York. Gonzales was still inside the bank.
During a search following her arrest, officers also allegedly found a financial card belonging to the person identified on the military card and more than $1,700 in cash in Gonzales’ purse.
Investigators reportedly connected the incident to the earlier attempt at Altabank in St. George, where a woman allegedly used a false military ID to try to withdraw money from another customer’s account.
Police said the ID recovered in Cedar City displayed the same photograph as the one used in St. George but carried a different name.
During an post-arrest interview, Gonzales admitted committing fraud offenses in multiple states and said Fluermond had been traveling with her since they were in California, court files state.
Police also reported finding more than $17,000 in cash in an envelope from a bank in Fresno, California.
The affidavit reports Gonzales told investigators the money had been stolen from someone’s account at that bank.
Other evidence described in the affidavits included forged cards, a fake rental agreement for a nonexistent rental company and a notebook containing personal identifying information, including Social Security numbers, names or addresses, for at least three people.
Cedar City investigators consulted detectives in St. George and Idaho about a larger alleged fraud operation.
According to the court records, fraud organizers often obtain identification and financial cards through vehicle burglaries or other thefts, then recruit people who resemble the individuals pictured on the IDs to withdraw money from bank accounts.
Investigators said suspects will keep most of the proceeds while the recruits receive a smaller share.
Police allege Gonzales and Fluermond worked with another suspect known as “T-Money,” whose identity was not known when two were arrested.
Both suspects were arrested on suspicion of 12 felony offenses, including three counts of identity fraud, three counts of possessing forged writings or devices, attempted theft, receiving stolen property, financial-card offenses, unlawful possession of identification documents and a pattern of unlawful activity.
Police said the listed offenses included gang enhancements based on the suspects’ alleged participation in a larger group.
Police requested that both be held without bail, citing concerns about flight, further financial crimes and possible interference with the investigation.