Probation in $356K check fraud
A man who deposited a forged check of nearly $356,000 in a Yuba City bank in 2011 was placed on five years probation last month.
Sutter County Judge Susan Green also ordered Robert T. Denormandie to pay $109,580 in restitution to U.S. Bank and barred him from doing business with the bank.
Denormandie, 66, pleaded no contest to felony identity theft with a sentencing enhancement for a loss of at least $200,000.
Denormandie was also ordered to spend 193 days in jail with credit for time served.
Denormandie, who was arrested earlier this year after a warrant was issued for him in 2014, entered the U.S. Bank on Colusa Avenue in December 2011 and deposited a $355,943.04 check into the checking account of his business, Denormandie Consulting Ltd., according to court records.
The check had been issued by Johnson Controls in Milwaukee to Tonolli Canada Ltd. Johnson Controls mailed the check, but it never reached Tonolli Canada Ltd., a court declaration said. The check was altered to reflect Denormandie’s business.
U.S. Bank “sustained a huge financial loss,” Deputy Probation Officer Meagan Hammond wrote in her report prepared for Denormandie’s sentencing.
Denormandie “does not feel that he did anything wrong and was the victim of a scam,” Hammond wrote. “(Denormandie) was going to take this matter to a jury trial, but after hearing other inmates’ ‘horror stories’ from court, decided to accept the plea in this matter.”
Denormandie, according to the probation report, claimed he needed money to pay a ransom for his girlfriend who had been kidnapped in the Philippines.
According to the probation report, Denormandie said he spent about $110,000 of the altered check’s funds.
He acknowledged a drinking problem, Hammond wrote, having first tried alcohol when he was 4 years old.
From 2004-11, Denormandie was “drinking vodka on a daily basis (and) drank to the point he blacked out frequently and consumed over a gallon of vodka per week,” the report said.
Denormandie “believes he is the victim of an internet ‘ love scam’ and denies any knowledge of his wrongdoing,” Hammond wrote.