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He is held after bank here reports possible forgery case
Cliff Buchan
News Editor
Police in Forest Lake have widened their investigation of a bank forgery case that has landed a man claiming to be a Brazilian national in the Washington County Jail in Stillwater.
Chief of Police Clark Quiring said city officers arrested Daniel Marques Fang, 25, after they were called by officials at Frandsen Bank & Trust, 2001 W. Broadway Ave. at 4:53 p.m. on Wednesday, Nov. 12.
Fang’s driver’s license shows a Vadnais Heights address, but he told police he was living at an address on Antler Road in Harris.
In the days since the arrest, police have secured a search warrant for the vehicle he was driving. Officials from federal and state agencies have also joined the probe.
On Monday, Quiring said police met with officials of the Immigration and Customs Enforcement division, the Minnesota Financial Fraud Task Force and the U.S. State Department.
The chief said Fang was arrested after the bank reported that he attempted to write a check for $400 on an account that had been opened earlier with two deposits of checks totalling $3000 and $900, Quiring said.
Police have determined that the checks were written on accounts that had been closed or were alleged to be fraudulent, the chief said.
Quiring said police learned that Fang first opened a checking account at the bank on Monday, Nov. 10 and returned two days later to withdraw funds from the account. He said the bank became suspicious and alerted police.
“The bank got suspicious and called us in,” Quiring said.
A search warrant for a car driven by Fang was granted last Thursday. He was in possession of a 2001 Chevrolet Yukon registered to a Harris couple and driven by their daughter who is described by police as Fang’s girlfriend.
As part of the arrest and from results of the search warrant, Quiring said police now believe Fang has been using up to seven names and has been traced to business contacts in Las Vegas.
The search of the sports-utility vehicle found two passports from Brazil with Fang’s name and photo.
Passport making equipment, printing paper, multiple birth certificates and stamps used in official documents from Brazil were recovered from the vehicle, the chief said.
On Tuesday, Quiring said police secured an addendum to the search warrant to allow police to search a laptop computer and a digital camera also found when the SUV was seized and searched.
Documentation was found in the vehicle showing Fang with a different name during a 2007 visit to Tampa, FL, the chief said. Among names used by Fang are Devong, Collier and Marquis, Quiring said.
Fang was booked in the Washington County Jail Wednesday night on probable cause for gross misdemeanor check forgery, Quiring said.
He was later transported to the federal detention facility at the Sherburne County Jail in Elk River.
Quiring said authorities were attempting to elevate the initial charges to felony level in order to continue their hold on Fang and give the investigation more time to develop.
Along with the involvement of federal and state officials, the probe is also looking at other area ties to the alleged forgery.
In addition to the one Forest Lake bank already involved in the probe, Quiring said contacts have been with at least one other bank in Forest Lake and in two neighboring communities where incidents may have been documented by bank officials.
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