61-year-old Man and 21-year-old Wife Jailed For Buying $24,000 in Jewelry With Fake Money Order

Poor Christine Friend. The 21-year-old from Gheen, Minnesota and her 61-year-old husband, Thomas Alan Friend, were charged with check forgery and attempted theft by swindle after they were arrested for purchasing $24,210 in diamond jewelry on layaway with a money order they fabricated.

The complaint states that on Oct. 29 at Gould’s Jewelry in Anoka, the couple from northeast Minnesota picked out a $4,500 tennis bracelet, a $3,000 bracelet, an engagement ring band worth $6,000, and diamond hoop earrings valued at $4,100, in addition to a diamond costing $5,000. The total was $22,600 before taxes. Christine Friend presented the money order, asking if they could buy the items on layaway. Gould’s Jewelry presented the money order to the bank and the bank advised that it was fraudulent. The money order had made up numbers where the routing number and bank account number commonly appear. Gould’s Jewelry called the police and at 4:13 p.m., when the couple returned, police arrested them. Christine Friend admitted they didn’t have enough in the bank account to cover the $24,210 in purchases. Police found a Heweltt Packard inkjet printer visible in the couple’s car and Christine Friend said that the check was created on a laptop in the vehicle.

source: WCCO

Hee-haw!