Bad checks, good beef
By James Fashing and Doug Toburen

A thief hit stockyards and livestock markets in southwest Missouri and northeast Oklahoma this past spring. By using fake checks made from a computer to pay for cattle, the thief took off before anyone discovered the deception.

On a busy, spring Thursday at the MO-KAN Livestock Market in Passaic, Mo., employees, buyers and sellers were focusing on work, while a thief was stealing the profits.

A young man in his early 30s was armed with a fake check, a familiar look and a calm disposition. He bid on calves like a pro, putting like groups together and passing on calves he didn't like. He was so relaxed he even returned for the rest of the 52 head of calves he bought that day, five hours after taking the first load--clearly not worried about getting caught.

"We've changed our procedures a bit, so it won't happen again," said Jim Hertzog, co-owner of the MO-KAN Livestock Market, Inc. "Right now we are focused on getting this guy off the street and behind bars and alerting other cattle markets. I've personally put up and mailed over a thousand reward posters. It just irks me he's still out there and not behind bars."

It wasn't the first time he "stole" from a sale barn. In Oklahoma, a man fitting the same description with the same funny money entered the Pryor Stockyards on April 17, this time with a woman and child in tow. He wrote that bogus check for the amount of $13,096.

Both of the checks were apparently created using a computer, a high-quality printer and lazy innovation. The checks had identical logos for the different banks represented, and one even had the words "The reverse side includes an artificial watermark."

The phone number on one check rang to the chamber of commerce in Garden City, Kan., instead of the Nation's Bank it claimed he banked at. The number on the other listed only a fax number.

"We know all of our sellers and buyers by name and hate having to be suspicious of anyone new," said Jerry Hertzog, co-owner of MO-KAN Livestock Market. "Unfortunately, calves are a commodity that can be turned into cash quickly. Since branding is not a practice anymore, calves can be bought one day and sold the next or even fed out and then re-sold."

"It's just not right messing with someone's livelihood," said one MO-KAN customer. "Stealing cattle is as bad as robbing a bank."

Unfortunately, the FDIC doesn't insure calves. In fact, both sale barns had to take the hit on the chin. The MO-KAN owners count all of the money as lost. The $27,064.43 expense would have been covered by insurance if the calves had been stolen the traditional way--with lasso and trailer. Instead, they were taken through forgery.

The penalty is no less severe. The charge would be a Class A felony. This thief may not get off with just one state's charge either. He could be facing a federal charge if the calves were transported out of state.

The bad checks are at a Joplin crime lab, and federal authorities have been consulted because the calves were most likely transported from state to state.

Local patrons sympathize with the owners of the auction house. "I hope you catch that guy," is commonly heard in the office. Reward posters are routinely grabbed by the handful by willing volunteers. "I'm putting these up in our hometown," said one seller. "They used to hang people for cattle rustling. Maybe they ought to re-instate that penalty," added another customer.

"He'll have to lie low for a while," said Jim Hertzog. "But I have a good memory, and I bet someone out there knows him."