Bankers network keeps its eyes on fraud and theft
Bankers need look no further than a jail cell in Hugo, Colo., to prove the value of a new anti-fraud Web site.
BY STEVE JORDON
WORLD-HERALD STAFF WRITER

There sits Marian Radu, 22, suspected of stealing from banks in Iowa and Colorado by pocketing money while tellers made change for his wad of $100 bills.

Radu's arrest came in part through a new Web site that connects banks and law enforcement agencies so they can exchange information about forged and counterfeit checks, bank-account fraud and other methods of thievery that cost banks millions of dollars a year.

The FinCrime network, switched on in August, is operated by bankers associations in Nebraska, Iowa and 10 other states. George Beattie, president of the Nebraska Bankers Association in Lincoln and president of FinCrime, said bankers were looking for a way to stop fraud.

We talk about bank robberies, and certainly they're more dramatic, and sometimes they're catastrophic, Beattie said. But the big money is being taken by white-collar crime, the kinds of things that FinCrime is designed to prevent.

We have a real fight on our hands as far as making sure fraudulent crimes aren't perpetrated.

So far, the network is open to bankers associations in Georgia, Indiana, Kansas, Minnesota, Missouri, Montana, North Dakota, Ohio, South Dakota and Wisconsin. More states are due to join the system.

Steve Looney, vice president for strategic technologies for the Iowa Bankers Association in Des Moines, said a law enforcement group asked several years ago whether such a system was possible. Looney's group set up the Web site, but the network didn't catch on and fell dormant.

We were a little bit ahead of the curve, and banks and police departments weren't really using the Internet, Looney said. It wasn't that common.

But Beattie said bankers kept talking about ways to share fraud information among themselves and with law enforcement agencies. A year ago, bankers associations decided to revive the Iowa system, forming the new corporation and recruiting state banking groups to sign up their members. Someday, Looney said, the system might be open to retailers.

Nearly 800 banks in the 12 states have signed up so far. Designated officers can look up information on the Web site and insert their own information.

The idea is to spot criminals and fraudulent financial activity such as forged checks, bogus new accounts, bad checks on closed accounts, phony ATM transactions, stolen checks and counterfeit bills. It also carries information on robberies and burglaries.

Bankers can search for names, dates and other information. They can receive alerts on every new entry or can filter out reports they don't want to see. They can post pictures from security cameras or images of forged checks.

This puts the power into the hands of the teller to prevent these things from happening at all, Beattie said. If you're more alert for it and you start asking for a second ID and the person walks out, you have to assume they were up to no good.

The bankers groups are working to get more of their members signed up, and law enforcement agencies are doing the same.

Capt. Pete Peters, investigative services commander for the Nebraska State Patrol, said the FinCrime system recently helped investigators connect an Omaha check fraud case with the theft of a car from a Council Bluffs casino parking lot.

Without the network, he said, it would have taken a whole lot longer to develop.

The network is free to law enforcement agencies. This is a great deal, Peters said. Once it gets rolling and we get more players and more data, it'll be even more valuable.

FinCrime worked well when a quick-change artist sole about $1,700 from the F & M Bank in Grinnell, Iowa, in September.

Jeff Hughes, an investigator for the Grinnell Police Department, put the information about the scam onto the network. Two days later, the guy was in jail, he said. It clearly is a useful tool for that type of crime. It works great.

In this case, it worked because Brad Vogel, security officer for Pinnacle Bancorp in Omaha, forwarded Hughes' information to all of Pinnacle's banks, including the Bank of Colorado. Within hours, tellers at one of the bank branches saw the man described in the alert.

They called me and said, 'We've got this guy,' Vogel said. He must have just gone right down Interstate 80.

The man had allegedly tried the short-change scam at one bank in Fort Morgan, Colo., but failed, and then went to Key Bank in Fort Morgan, making off with about $1,600. He drove the 40 miles to Sterling, Colo., and went into a Bank of Colorado office.

Tellers there recognized him and thwarted his quick-change attempt. At a second Bank of Colorado office nearby, a teller became suspicious and called police, who arrested Radu.

Fort Morgan detective Todd Zwetzig said Radu faces three felony charges and is being investigated for other crimes. The FBI is taking part in the investigation, which may extend to South Carolina, Kansas Massachusetts, Wisconsin and other states.

Shortly after Radu's arrest, friends posted bail and he was released, but then other jurisdictions filed charges. Radu was arrested again when he returned back to the police station to claim his personal property.

We all started talking back and forth and comparing notes, and we said, 'Wait a minute. We've got a big problem here,' Zwetzig said. He's not going anywhere now.

A South Carolina police investigator believes Radu is part of a band of Romanian transients who travel around the country committing various types of fraud.

Denver attorney Donald Brenner, who represents Radu, said Radu faces possible deportation as a result of the arrest.

Zwetzig and Vogel said the FinCrime network helped.

It really worked out well, getting everything put together, Zwetzig said. With everybody getting e-mail and all the network stuff, it made a difference.

It was a direct hit on that one, Vogel said.


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