Bernardsville Police Department : Morristown Man Arrested For Forgery And Theft By Deception In Bernardsville

Press release from the Bernardsville Police Department:

NEWS RELEASE – March 24, 2021

Bernardsville, N.J. – Bernardsville Police Chief Kevin Valentine announced the arrest of Fabian Medina, age 53, of Morristown NJ as the result of a seven (7) month investigation into multiple incidents of Forgery and Theft by Deception.

The investigation into this incident started on August 17th, 2020 in response to a complaint reported to police by a Bernardsville resident. The complainant reported that a check valued at more than $1,700.00 drawn on the complainant’s personal banking account, was deposited into another unknown bank account. A subsequent investigation by Bernardsville Police Department detectives revealed that the check was intercepted from the U.S. mail and deposited into a bank account belonging to a Bernardsville business operated by the defendant. As the result of the ongoing investigation, investigators uncovered multiple additional checks that were diverted to the defendant’s bank account. The investigation revealed that additional checks belonging to multiple unsuspecting victims were forged. In total from April 1, 2020, to September 30, 2020, the defendant forged 17 checks and attempted to deposit 28 checks into his account in an attempt to defraud victims and steal funds worth over a total amount of $12,000.00.

The investigation was conducted by detectives from the Bernardsville Police Department with assistance from an investigator from the United States Postal Inspection Service. Police Chief Kevin Valentine credited Detective Sgt. Dan Buttel and Det. Justin Alt for their investigative efforts in this matter. Chief Valentine said that “this was a complex investigation that went on for an extended period of time. There were numerous checks involved and multiple victims. A tremendous amount of work was done by the investigators to identify unsuspecting victims and account for all of the fraudulent checks written or deposited”. He also thanked the U.S. Postal Inspectors Office for their assistance in the investigation.

As a result of the investigation, Fabian Medina was charged with thirteen (13) counts of Forgery (3rd Degree Crime), 12 counts of Theft by Deception (3rd Degree Crime), 2 counts of Theft by Deception (4th Degree Crime) and 12 counts of Theft by Deception (Disorderly Person Offenses). Defendant Medina was issued Complaint Summons for the above listed charges and released pending formal court proceedings.

Note: We are required by the Rules of Court to include herein a statement explaining that the charges are merely an accusation and that the defendant is presumed innocent until proven guilty.

This press release was produced by the Bernardsville Police Department. The views expressed here are the author’s own.