NORWALK — A Stamford man is facing a forgery charge after he allegedly used fraudulent checks to purchase thousands of dollars worth of cryptocurrency, police said Monday.
Jose Orozco, 30, was taken into custody on Friday and charged with third-degree forgery and third-degree larceny, according to Norwalk Police Department arrest records and Sgt. Sofia Gulino.
Officers began investigating the forged checks earlier this year, Gulino said, after a fraud investigator notified police about suspicious activity on a finacial account that was opened by Orozco last fall.
“Evidence and witness information was gathered, leading to sufficient reason to believe that Orozco knowingly took checks from a company that was no longer in business, and deposited the monies into an account,” Gulino said.
Orozco allegedly used the invalid checks to deposit more than $11,000 into his account. Gulino said he then used some of the funds to make multiple purchases of cryptocurrency totaling approximately $4,800.
Gulino said a hold was placed on Orozco’s account after the suspicious activity was discovered. Detectives investigating the case then obtained a warrant for Orozco’s arrest.
After he was advised of the warrant, Orozco turned himself into police on March 11. Gulino said he was held on a court-set bond of $50,000.
richard.chumney@hearstmediact.com