{"id":44207,"date":"2026-08-20T06:35:47","date_gmt":"2026-08-20T11:35:47","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/trfnews.i234.me\/wordpress\/?p=44207"},"modified":"2026-08-15T20:58:47","modified_gmt":"2026-08-16T01:58:47","slug":"bemidji-bank-case-brings-felony-forgery-charge","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/trfnews.i234.me\/wordpress\/bemidji-bank-case-brings-felony-forgery-charge\/","title":{"rendered":"Bemidji Bank Case Brings Felony Forgery Charge"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

Bemidji Bank Case Brings Felony Forgery Charge<\/h2>\n

Bemidji<\/strong> (trfnews.i234.me<\/a>) \u2014 An Illinois man faces a felony check forgery charge in Beltrami County.<\/p>\n

Thomas W. Stiles is accused of trying to pass two forged checks at Bemidji-area banks.<\/p>\n

The alleged transactions happened on September 15, 2023, according to the criminal complaint.<\/p>\n

The case is filed in Beltrami County District Court as 04-CR-23-2650.<\/p>\n

Bank Reports Suspected Forged Checks<\/h2>\n

Bemidji police responded to Security Bank USA on Paul Bunyan Drive Northwest around 5 p.m.<\/p>\n

A bank employee reported that two people had attempted to deposit four suspected fraudulent checks.<\/p>\n

The complaint says the same individuals visited both Security Bank locations in Beltrami County.<\/p>\n

Investigators received copies of the checks and identification information used during the transactions.<\/p>\n

Police also reviewed surveillance video from the bank locations.<\/p>\n

The footage allegedly showed two men entering the banks and attempting to cash checks.<\/p>\n

Investigators identified Stiles as one of the men shown in the surveillance footage.<\/p>\n

Two Checks Total More Than $8,500<\/h2>\n

Prosecutors say Stiles attempted to pass one check for $3,960.13.<\/p>\n

He allegedly attempted to pass a second check for $4,590.<\/p>\n

The two checks had a combined face value of $8,550.13.<\/p>\n

Both checks appeared to come from the Beltrami County Auditor-Treasurer, according to the complaint.<\/p>\n

Investigators later obtained affidavits stating that the checks were forged.<\/p>\n

The complaint alleges Stiles possessed or offered the checks with an intent to defraud.<\/p>\n

The charge applies because the alleged total value exceeded $2,500.<\/p>\n

Felony Charge Filed<\/h2>\n

Stiles faces one felony count of offering or possessing a forged check with intent to defraud.<\/p>\n

The charge carries a maximum sentence of 10 years in prison.<\/p>\n

It also carries a possible fine of up to $20,000.<\/p>\n

Readers can review Minnesota Statute 609.631<\/a> for check forgery laws.<\/p>\n

Additional court information is available through the Minnesota Judicial Branch<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The charge is an allegation and has not been proven in court.<\/p>\n

Stiles is presumed innocent unless proven guilty.<\/p>\n

I’m Adrian Cole reporting for TRF News<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Copyright 2026 TRF News. All rights reserved.<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/article>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

An Illinois man faces a felony check forgery charge after prosecutors say he tried to pass two checks totaling more than $8,500 at Bemidji banks.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":3252,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_wpscp_schedule_draft_date":"","_wpscp_schedule_republish_date":"","_wpscppro_advance_schedule":false,"_wpscppro_advance_schedule_date":"","_wpscppro_dont_share_socialmedia":false,"_wpscppro_custom_social_share_image":0,"_facebook_share_type":"","_twitter_share_type":"","_linkedin_share_type":"","_pinterest_share_type":"","_linkedin_share_type_page":"","_instagram_share_type":"","_medium_share_type":"","_threads_share_type":"","_google_business_share_type":"","_bluesky_share_type":"","_mastodon_share_type":"","_selected_social_profile":[],"_wpsp_enable_custom_social_template":false,"_wpsp_social_scheduling":{"enabled":false,"datetime":null,"platforms":[],"status":"template_only","dateOption":"today","timeOption":"now","customDays":"","customHours":"","customDate":"","customTime":"","schedulingType":"absolute"},"_wpsp_active_default_template":true},"categories":[12],"tags":[1633,14780,23192,17666,23195,23194,23193],"class_list":["post-44207","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-crime","tag-beltrami-county-court","tag-bemidji-crime-news","tag-bemidji-minnesota-news","tag-check-forgery-charge","tag-forged-checks","tag-security-bank-usa","tag-thomas-w-stiles","entry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/trfnews.i234.me\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/44207","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/trfnews.i234.me\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/trfnews.i234.me\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/trfnews.i234.me\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/trfnews.i234.me\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=44207"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/trfnews.i234.me\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/44207\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":44208,"href":"https:\/\/trfnews.i234.me\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/44207\/revisions\/44208"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/trfnews.i234.me\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/3252"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/trfnews.i234.me\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=44207"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/trfnews.i234.me\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=44207"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/trfnews.i234.me\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=44207"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}