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North Strabane police looking for three men wanted on burglary, theft charges

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From left, Juan Ramon Melgoza, Manuel Lucero and Baudel Graciano

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Manuel Lucero

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Juan Ramon Melgoza

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Baudel Graciano

North Strabane Township police obtained arrest warrants for three men accused of stealing blank checks from two businesses and then cashing them for almost $25,000.

Police are looking for Juan Ramon Melgoza, 30, Manuel Lucero, 34, and Baudel Graciano, 33. Police Investigator Nathan Terling said there is a fourth man working with them who was not identified. No current addresses are available for any of the suspects.

Terling said the three were seen in Terra Testing and Conflow Inc., inquiring about job applications. The two businesses are next to each other on Meadowlands Boulevard.

“It seems like they were casing the places and then slipping back in,” Terling said. “The checks would be removed from the middle of the check binder so the theft was not discovered for a while. They also took other documents so they could forge the signature on the check.”

The checkbooks for both businesses were kept in an office.

The investigation began in early May when Conflow reported fraudulent check activity. The company’s material planning manager was auditing the company’s bank account when she found three unauthorized checks. She determined 20 checks were missing from the checkbook. After getting copies of the stolen checks from the bank, it was determined her signature and that of the project manager had been forged.

The president of Terra Testing reported a total of 30 checks missing from his company. It was determined the signature of the office manager was forged on 22 checks and cashed for almost $22,000 at different banks in the Pittsburgh area by the same suspects who cashed the checks from Conflow.

The trio are charged with burglary, theft, conspiracy, receiving stolen property and forgery. Terling said the men also are under investigation by North Fayette Township police for similar thefts at two businesses. He said the loss to the businesses in that township, combined with that of the North Strabane businesses, is about $40,000.

While no vehicle was seen in the North Strabane incidents, Terling said a gold Ford Windstar was seen when they were getting applications at the North Fayette businesses.

Anyone with information on the whereabouts or information about the three suspects is asked to call Terling at 724-746-1438.

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