Believe scammers, go to jail

Negligent bank not blamed, of course

San Jose resident Steven Chesser, like so many of us, receives checks in the mail from people who claim he's just won a lottery or sweepstakes. Unlike most of us, though, he can't tell they're fake. And for that reason, he's spent the entire holiday season in the Santa Clara County Jail.

Chesser, who is 51 but, according to his father, has the mind of a 12-year-old, isn't sure why he's locked up. He told his dad that, as best as he can figure, it's because he opened a bank account. In fact, Chesser's mistake was thinking that if you receive checks in the mail, and if you take those checks to a bank, and if that bank gives you money, then everything must be all right. But it wasn't. Chesser was arrested July 7 on charges of check forgery and commercial burglary. He was subsequently released on his own recognizance but taken into custody again Nov. 1 after missing a court date. He was scheduled to enter a plea on Tuesday. But the public defender representing him, Kipp Davis, requested that the hearing be postponed until Jan. 19. Davis declined to comment on the case. Chesser's parents say the delay was sought to give the lawyer more time to negotiate with the Santa Clara County district attorney's office.

Jay Boyarsky, the supervising deputy district attorney, acknowledged that "the criminal justice system does not always deal well with people who have mental disabilities." But he said his office hadn't been made aware before Tuesday that Chesser's case involves mental illness and bogus checks. "We thought this was just a guy trying to deposit checks totaling $38,000," Boyarsky said. "We had no thought that the checks he was trying to deposit were related to some Canadian lottery scam." He said the district attorney's office will now look into how Chesser's case can be expedited.

For the time being, however, Chesser remains behind bars. He's being held in a special wing "for inmates who need mental health treatment," according to jail spokesman Mark Cursi. Grace McAndrews, executive director of the California branch of the National Alliance on Mental Illness, was shocked by Chesser's plight. "I thought I'd heard of everything," she said. "This is just terrible." Still, McAndrews acknowledged that it's all too common for people with mental disabilities to fall victim to scams. "They don't have the capacity to know the difference," she said.

Steven Chesser lives with his 81-year-old father, William Chesser. His 76-year-old mother, Mary, lives separately in Cupertino. Chesser is described by his parents as a likable and friendly person with no previous run-ins with the law. His mother said that when Chesser was a child, he was diagnosed by specialists at Stanford University as "slow," requiring special classes and medication. "He talks to imaginary people," Mary Chesser said. "He hears voices. But he's always been a good boy." Chesser doesn't read very well and doesn't always comprehend what's going on around him, his father said. He's worked as a janitor and held other unskilled jobs. He's easily taken advantage of by others. "When he's working, his friends always come around on payday and get him to buy them beer," William Chesser said. "That sort of thing is common."

The younger Chesser likes to receive mail. His father said Chesser will respond to virtually any marketing solicitation that comes his way. As a result, "he's on a lot of mailing lists." That's probably how the scammers found him. A particularly devious scam currently making the rounds is from Canadian fraudsters who write to say that you've been awarded thousands of dollars in an international lottery. To get your winnings, you simply have to pay about $2,000 in taxes and service costs. But not to worry: Here's a check for that amount from a U.S. financial institution that will cover the expense at no risk to you. Just cash the check, send in the funds and your lottery windfall will follow. The check, of course, is counterfeit, and the scam involves people sending in their own money while the bogus check is still being processed by the bank.

In recent months, his father said, Chesser has received a number of checks from overseas lotteries and sweepstakes. They came in handy when Steven decided in July that he wanted to buy a bike from a friend. William Chesser said his son went to a Wells Fargo branch in Cupertino with a couple of checks he'd received, ostensibly worth a total of about $2,000. Chesser opened a checking account, deposited the funds and asked for some money. The bank gave him $500, his father said. Chesser returned a few days later with a few more checks. Once again, his father said, the bank handed him $500. "He showed the checks to me and I said I didn't think they were any good," William Chesser recalled. "But Steven doesn't always believe me. And besides, the bank was giving him money." So Chesser went to the bank yet again with even more checks. And this time, bank officials suspected something was up. They called the Santa Clara County Sheriff's Department and Chesser was promptly arrested for passing bad checks.

"He was attempting to deposit numerous checks," said Deputy Serg Palanov, a spokesman for the Sheriff's Department. Chris Hammond, a Wells Fargo spokesman, said, "There is more to the story, but we are not able to disclose it because we must respect the privacy of the customer's information." He added: "Wells Fargo does not make decisions based on a customer or potential customer's appearance. However, if a team member observes questionable or suspicious actions or behaviors in our banking store, it may be appropriate to contact authorities to ensure the safety of our customers and team members."

Chesser was handcuffed and taken to jail. He was released on his own recognizance the next day. William Chesser said his son then disappeared for the first time ever, returning home several days later and refusing to say where he'd been. William Chesser, who filed a missing-person report with police, speculates that his son was ashamed of his arrest -- what he understood of it -- and couldn't immediately find the courage to go back home. In any case, the date of Chesser's first court appearance arrived in August, and his father said Chesser locked himself in his room and refused to come out. His father went without him. A warrant was issued for Chesser's arrest. Sheriff's deputies arrived at the house on Nov. 1 and took Chesser into custody. He's been in jail ever since.

Bail was set at $10,000, but William Chesser said he's decided not to pay it because of the danger that his son might disappear again. "If he gets out, it's possible I wouldn't be able to get him back to court," William Chesser said. "That would make things even worse." And so Steven Chesser has spent Thanksgiving and the entire holiday season behind bars -- all because con artists targeted him with their scams. "He's going to be spending Christmas in jail," his mother said, her voice catching. "I feel so sorry for him."

Nearly two months of incarceration hasn't been good for Steven's condition, his parents observed. "When I saw him in jail, he said the walls were talking to him," Mary Chesser recalled. William Chesser had a similar impression. "He's been talking to imaginary people," he said. "When I visited him, we were speaking on the phone from two sides of a glass window. Steven would hold up the phone so an imaginary person could hear what I was saying. "I asked him if he knew why he was there," the father continued. "He said it was for opening an account at Wells Fargo. "I asked if he knew the checks were no good. He said they'd come in the mail and were addressed to him, so they must be good. He doesn't understand how a check can be bad."

Wells Fargo's Hammond said holds are routinely placed on checks so that banks can determine that funds are available. But he said a portion of the deposited amount may still be made available right away "at the customer's request." "Customers are advised not to spend funds until the item has cleared," Hammond said. "They are responsible for the authenticity of the item. In a situation when funds are not available or the item negotiated is found to be fraudulent, the customer is responsible for the amount the bank has distributed to the customer."

Chesser's father said he received a letter from his son recently, asking that he be let out of jail. "It's very sad," he said. "It's hard to understand why this is happening."

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