SPOKANE VALLEY -- Spokane County Sheriff's deputies arrested a man Thursday evening who officials called the "mastermind of writing bad checks."
Deputies say Ronald Foreman, 43, was arrested at his home at 13718 E. 21st with the assistance of SWAT units. Deputies told KREM 2 News Foreman has written tens of thousands of dollars in bad checks, and has been under surveillance since December of last year when counterfeit checks started springing up around Spokane County. Investigators believe checking account numbers were stolen from residential mailboxes and checks were passed in Washington, Idaho, and Oregon.
Deputies also received a tip Foreman may have had explosives in his possession. Explosive ingredients were located, but deputies say they are not illegal, and therefore not seized.
According to investigators, Foreman has been producing counterfeit checks and identifications that have been used by as many as a dozen other people. Officials on the scene told KREM 2 News Foreman had successfully learned how to falsify Washington drivers licenses, complete with a hologram.
Investigators seized 15 computer hard drives, a safe, more than a dozen laptop computers, a washer and dryer, and two flat-screen televisions from Foreman's home.
Deputies say his house was equipped with an "extensive network of both interior and exterior video monitoring systems."
Additional arrests are expected in relation to the case.
Foreman is a convicted felon and was booked into the Spokane County Jail on charges related to leading organized crime. Deputies say it is likely he will also face charges for possession of methamphetamine.
