A Boulder County man has been named in several criminal complaints across the Front Range for check forging, and his address may have also been the site of a federal investigation.
Shawn Michael Vencel, 35, is in custody at the Boulder County Jail in connection with three cases — two stemming from Boulder Police Department investigations, one from a Boulder County Sheriff’s Office report — on charges including theft, unlawful manufacturing of a financial device, forgery and fraud by check, according to arrest affidavits.
According to the affidavits in the Boulder police cases, Vencel opened an account with Chime Banking, which is an online-only bank that does not issue checks to users in the same way a traditional bank would.
But according to the affidavit, Vencel used fraudulent checks created for that Chime account to close on a property. He issued two checks that totaled $51,124.08, about $16,000 more than the closing figure. Vencel was issued a check for the difference, which he cashed, but the closing company said both of Vencel’s checks bounced.
In another instance, police said Vencel used a Chime check for about $2,700 to open an account with a bank branch in Boulder. He then deposited another check for $2,500, this time from a Chase bank with a company in California listed as the payor.
Both checks ultimately bounced, but not before police said Vencel spent most of the funds from the account, leading to a loss of more than $5,000 for the bank.
The company in California said it had never paid Vencel, and it was refunded by Chase. Police do not know at this time how Vencel obtained the company’s account information.
According to an affidavit in the Boulder County case, detectives said Vencel used forged business checks from a fictional Wells Fargo account to purchase two laptops at a Costco in Superior, which he then turned around and sold for cash.
Vencel also has an assault case in Boulder after police said he pushed his grandmother.
Vencel is scheduled for a preliminary hearing on all of his Boulder County cases on Nov. 7.
According to the affidavits, Vencel is under investigation in multiple jurisdictions for similar allegations, and in addition to the Boulder County cases he has open warrants for his arrest in Adams, Broomfield and Jefferson counties for charges including theft, identity theft, motor vehicle theft, check forging, forging of government documents, defrauding a debtor, possession of a controlled substance, possession of forging instruments and criminal impersonation. He also has had 34 failure to appear or failure to comply warrants issued since 2005.
Vencel also has past convictions for trespassing, assault, obstruction of a police officer, child abuse, vehicular eluding, trespassing, improper care of an animal, numerous traffic violations, according to the affidavit.
Numerous witnesses reported officials with the Federal Bureau of Investigation were seen on Oct. 17 searching an address at 5515 South Boulder Road where Vencel is listed as the registered owner both in the affidavit and in county records.
Really curious about what was going on with @FBIDenver and @BldrCOSheriff this morning at the East Boulder Rec Center. It's not everyday you get see a bunch of #FBI agents walking around in full tactical gear pic.twitter.com/f1hlL8xVpX
— Zoë Snow (@snowyfox) October 17, 2019
While Special Agent Amy Meyer confirmed the FBI was conducting an operation in the area, she would not confirm the address or the nature of the investigation.
“I can confirm we were involved in investigative activity in the vicinity of the location you inquired about however I can’t provide additional information at this time as it’s an ongoing investigation,” Meyer wrote in an email
The Boulder County Sheriff’s Office also confirmed it assisted the FBI with executing a warrant within the county, but could not offer any further information.
