'Extremely sophisticated' forgery ring busted, Yuba City police say

A small amount of new office paper appears to have been the key to cracking an "extremely sophisticated" forgery ring in Yuba City.

"It seems like a very small thing, but it helped lead to the arrests of three people," Yuba City police spokeswoman Shawna Pavey said Thursday.

A Yuba City woman and two Sacramento residents were jailed Wednesday evening after police said they tried to defraud an office supply business out of less than $100 in typing paper and ink pens, police said.

Patty Lynn Quintanilla, 52, of the 1700 block of Woodland Drive, Yuba City, was arrested along with Bernie Malig Nacpil, 37, and Priya Sangily Singh, 27, both of Sacramento.

Police said the arrests were the culmination of a nearly month-long investigation that started when a Yuba City man realized someone had gotten hold of his banking information by stealing his mail.

Officers declined to release the man's name, saying that information could harm the investigation.

Police determined the man's checking account number had been attached to phony checks that were passed at the Office Depot on Harter Road in Yuba City.

Pavey had high praise for "diligent" store employees and the store manager in particular, but corporate polices prevented any of them from commenting.

Working with store management, police asked employees to be on the lookout for anyone passing a certain type of check.

"A few weeks went by and then, (Wednesday), sure enough, somebody tried to return some items and an alert employee spotted it," Pavey explained.

Police were called and later found "extensive evidence of a highly sophisticated" forgery operation inside the trio's car.

"I certainly give the employees a lot of credit for not dismissing or ignoring it because it was not a large amount of money they were after," Pavey said.

Police said further investigation will determine exactly how wide-ranging the suspected fraud may have gone in the local area.

Area law enforcement agencies have reported a recent spike in high-profile check forging operations and Wednesday's incident marked the third set of arrests in less than two weeks.

None of the incidents are believed to be related, police said.

Bail was set at $100,000 each for Quintanilla and Singh. Nacpil is being held without bail.