Three Hilo residents accused of crimes related to stolen checks

Three people have been arrested and charged with various financial crime offenses stemming from a theft of mail that occurred in January.

In February, a financial institution in Hilo was alerted about nine drafted personal checks belonging to a member’s checking account that were suspicious in nature, police said.

The victim reported that she had ordered a book of new checks to be delivered to her residential mailbox, but never received the checks. The victim reported that her mailbox door was observed to have been left open on several occasions in the month of January, and believed her checks were stolen.

Three individuals were later identified depositing the victim’s stolen and forged checks into their own accounts.

A total of $11,000 was transferred out of the victim’s account from the stolen checks, according to police.

Police obtained arrest warrants for the suspects who were all later located, arrested and charged.

The suspects have been identified as the following:

— Joseph K. Medeiros-Alidon, 25, of Hilo was arrested and charged with numerous theft, forgery and other offenses related to the stolen checks. His bail was set at $42,000.

— January R. Andres, 48, of Hilo, was arrested and charged with four offenses related to the stolen checks. Bail was set at $8,000.

— Frances A. Matias, 49, of Hilo was arrested and charged with four offenses related to the stolen checks. Bail was set at $7,000.

Police recommend residents install locked mailboxes at their residence in order to help deter theft of incoming mail, as well as dropping off outgoing mail at a secure USPS drop box or post office.

Anyone with information relative to this investigation is encouraged to call the police department’s non-emergency number at (808) 935-3311. They may also contact Detective Amy Omaya at (808) 961-2381 or via email at amy.omaya@hawaiicounty.gov