A Nicholson woman who allegedly cashed an insurance check that should have gone to her mortgage company faces a forgery charge, according to the Commerce Police Department.
According to the arrest report, Sherri Allen, 39, 125 Tanner Lane, Nicholson, received a check for $65,705 from an insurance company following a fire that destroyed her residence. The check was made out to her, her husband and a mortgage company.
Athens investigators told Commerce police that Allen endorsed the check and tried to cash it at an Athens office of Pinnacle Bank. The bank refused the check because the mortgage company had not endorsed it.
Later, the report alleged, Allen went to the same Athens Bank and presented the check again, with the words “Vanderbilt Mortgage” handwritten on the back of the check.
The teller was suspicious, the report said, and told Allen she would have to place a hold on the check — required by bank regulations. The report said Allen refused to leave the check with the bank.
Later, it said, she presented the check to Pinnacle Bank in Commerce, where she deposited it into her account. According to the police report, the bank limited her access to the money to $200 the first day and $4,800 on the second day, with the rest after seven days, assuming the check cleared.
On May 1, the bank discovered, the Allens made five withdrawals. In addition, they came to an Athens branch to deposit an unrelated check into the account with the hold. The teller became suspicious and put a freeze on the account.
A subsequent investigation indicated that the mortgage company was unaware the check had been issued, said it had not endorsed the check and that the company, not the Allens, should receive all of the funds.
The report said Allen told police she’d sent the check to the mortgage company, where someone endorsed it. A representative of the company responded that the company has a stamp for endorsing checks.
An Athens-Clarke detective called Allen in for questioning on May 9, but she did not appear, the report said.
The report did not indicate the circumstances under which Allen was actually arrested.
