A Tooele man faces felony theft and forgery charges after he allegedly wrote himself more than 50 payroll checks and deposited them into his bank account.
Richard Sandoval, 31, was charged with one count of second-degree felony theft and six counts of third-degree felony forgery.
According to a probable cause statement from the Tooele City Police Department, employees at Christensen & Griffith Construction noticed several unauthorized, out-of-sequence checks. A more thorough investigation found 54 of the unauthorized checks made out to Sandoval, an employee, totaling $25,798.
The checks made out to Sandoval were deposited electronically to a Mountain America Credit Union account using its mobile app, where the user photographs the front and back of a check using a cell phone, the statement said.
Mountain America Credit Union records information, including the pictures of the check and the device used to make the deposit, according to the probable cause statement. Every check was deposited from the same device into an account that belongs to Sandoval; no other name was associated with the account.
Sandoval bonded out of jail but had his initial hearing, originally set for July 27, rescheduled for Aug. 10 in Third District Court.