Suspect arrested for allegedly passing $350K in bad checks

For illustrative purposes only | Photo by Andrey Popov, iStock / Getty Images Plus, St. George News

ST. GEORGE — A suspect accused of writing $350,000 in bad checks was arrested in Washington City on Thursday and allegedly told police he did so because he was being threatened.

2021 file photo for illustrative purposes only of officers respond to Telegraph Road in Washington City, Utah, Oct. 25, 2021 | Photo by Ammon Teare, St. George News

Thomas Paul Madden, 64, was arrested Tuesday shortly after 2:30 p.m. in Washington City and was transported to Purgatory Correctional Facility facing three second-degree felony counts for issuing a bad check and failing to make good on the payment.

According to charging documents filed in 5th District Court, the arrest stems from an investigation into possible check fraud involving three checks deposited into a checking account at a local branch and later returned unpaid due to insufficient funds.

Washington City Police detectives contacted the fraud investigator at the bank, which told authorities it was investigating Madden for the alleged check fraud.

The suspect, the investigator said, wrote three checks from a credit union account on three separate days, drafts processed at the bank branch totaling $350,000, all of which were returned as insufficient funds.

By the time the bank was notified there were insufficient funds to cover the checks, bank officials attempted to retrieve the funds from the bank customer’s account, only to discover that a portion of the money already was gone, leaving the bank with a deficit of more than $145,280.

Through the course of the investigation, detectives collected a written statement, as well as copies of the checks in question.

When the suspect was contacted, he reportedly told detectives the only reason he wrote the checks was because he was being threatened, even though he said he knew there was not enough money to cover the drafts.

Stock image of Washington City Police patrol vehicles | Photo by Cody Blowers, St. George News

The detective also noted that several months had passed since the third check was written and the suspect had yet to work with the bank or make payment arrangements to cover the losses incurred by the local branch.

Madden was arrested shortly after 2:30 p.m., and the three felony charges were submitted to the Washington County Attorney’s Office for review. The suspect was released from custody later that day after posting a bond. On Friday, the suspect was formally charged with the offenses and the case was filed in 5th District Court.

This is a developing story.

This report is based on statements from police and may not contain the full scope of findings. Persons arrested or charged are presumed innocent until found guilty in a court of law or as otherwise decided by a trier-of-fact.

Copyright St. George News, SaintGeorgeUtah.com LLC, 2022, all rights reserved.

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